Two area businessmen purchased the Classen Circle business complex in Oklahoma City a few months after the historic site was slated to be torn down for a Braum’s ice cream and grocery store.
The Oklahoman newspaper reported Classen Circle LLC, owned by Josh Thomas and Scott Mueller, closed Friday on the $1.3 million purchase of the mixed-use building at 5114 Classen Blvd.
The complex, also known as the Donnay Building, holds the historic Hi Lo Club, the Drunken Fry, Charlie’s Records and the Classen Grill, along with unused apartments and retail frontage.
“We’re keeping the Hi Lo and everything as is,” Thomas said. “We’re meeting with architects to see what can be done. We want to clean it up at first and get a good thorough evaluation of the property.”
Thomas said the evaluation will include how best to redevelop the dormant portions of the property, including apartments that were once a part of what was one of the city’s earliest examples of a suburban mixed-use development. The complex was built in the early 1950s off what was then Classen Circle.
Preservationists rejoiced at the news.
Lynne Rostochil, who helped organize the effort to save the Donnay Building, applauded the sale to an owner committing to retain not just the building but also the Hi Lo Club, which is a historic gathering spot for the LGBT community.
“I would say it’s off the endangered list and we can celebrate,” Rostochil said.
Nearly 14,000 people signed an online petition opposing the plan to demolish the site. A Save Classen Circle page on Facebook drew more than 900 fans, and dozens of people attended a public hearing in mid-September to oppose the plan.
Oklahoma City zoning commissioners refused to rezone the site, and Braum’s withdrew the application for the increasingly radioactive project.
The Donnay Building was constructed in 1948. According to Jim Ross’ “Oklahoma Route 66” book, Classen Circle sat on a 1950s alignment of Route 66. Current-day Oklahoma Highway 66, overlaid onto Interstate 44, also sits nearby.
(Image of Classen Circle in Oklahoma City by Matthew Rutledge via Flickr)