The historic Blue Dome building near downtown Tulsa has been sold for $1.52 million to the owners of the adjacent Arnie’s Bar, reported the Tulsa World on Friday.
Longtime owner Michael Sager sold the building and the nearby Woody’s Corner Bar to Chris and JoAnn Armstrong, owners of Arnie’s. Sager says the new owners have no plans to tear it down.
The Armstrongs had leased a portion of the Blue Dome building from Sager for years. Here’s a bit of history of the Blue Dome from the Arnie’s website:
Originally a 1912 Gulf station, this amusement-type novelty attraction was built to encourage drivers to bring their vehicles in for gas. Open 24 hours with an on-duty attendant who lived in the apartment upstairs in the dome itself, the station boasted at being one of only a few buildings in the area with hot and cold running water and an air compression mechanism for pumping gas. With hundreds of lights under the lip of the dome, this Moorish-styled, ornate gem of architecture glowed like an amusement park ride.
As the building went though several transformations, it ended up as a bar for most of its subsequent history. If the Blue Dome could speak, it would tell of the day it became Veteran’s Bar in the 1930’s, and later, a place where down-and-outs could find a warm place, a strong drink and get their face washed as well.
Now the Blue Dome is the iconic landmark for Tulsa’s burgeoning and hip Blue Dome District, located east of downtown.
Arnie’s Bar is no slouch in the history department, either. Although it’s been at its current location only since 2000, Arnie’s roots date to 1956 on 15th Street in Tulsa.
(Image of the Blue Dome building by nwlynch via Flickr)