The historic Gold Dome building in Oklahoma City as back for sale after a company’s plans to turn it into its headquarters were scrapped because of a nosedive in oil prices, reported The Oklahoman last week.
Building owner David Box said he’ll try to sell the structure to someone who will preserve the geodesic dome.
TEEMCO, an area engineering firm in nearby Edmond, Oklahoma, that specializes in the oil industry, announced in August 2013 it would buy the Gold Dome and convert it into its headquarters. But, as reported in The Oklahoman:
While TEEMCO once promised to build massive fish aquariums and install the world’s largest salt crystal lamp in the lobby of the building, the company says it is strapped for cash because of falling crude oil prices that have cut into their environmental contract work for the energy industry.
“We have entered into an agreement to relinquish our plans for the Dome due to market conditions,” TEEMCO CEO Greg Lorson said in an email. “Our first priority is to get TEEMCO back on solid financial grounds.”
The price of oil was over $100 a barrel in June. It since has cratered to under $50. A sizable part of Oklahoma’s economy is dependent on energy prices, and the plummeting price of crude has prompted the state government to brace itself for steep budget cuts.
The announcement was so abrupt, TEEMCO still hasn’t removed its plans for the Gold Dome from its website. At the least, TEEMCO put a new roof on the building and rewired it. So it at least is in better shape than it was before.
The Golden Dome was built as a Citizens State Bank building in 1958. In 2003, it faced demolition until Dr. Irene Lam bought it and turned it into a retail complex. Shortly afterwards, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2012, the building fell into foreclosure.
The Gold Dome sits at Northwest 23rd Street and North Classen Boulevard, both sections of Route 66.
(Hat tip to Jerry McClanahan; image of the Gold Dome by We travel the world via Flickr)