The restoration of the historic Max Campbell Building in the 2600 block of East 11th Street, aka Route 66, in Tulsa is starting now.
The purchase of the building and the intentions to convert it into a hotel and retail center was announced in late 2008. But I feared that the project went by the wayside when the economy cratered a short time later.
But a spokeswoman Barbara Casey at Group M Investment Inc., the building’s owner, assured me by e-mail that the renovation work on the Campbell Building was beginning in earnest:
It used to be Casa Loma Hotel in the ’40s on the top (2nd) floor, and Safeway, drug store, barbershop, etc., on bottom floor. We are restoring the hotel. It will be called the Campbell Hotel, as it is the Max Campbell building built in 1927. […] It is being listed on the Historical Register.
The hotel will have 26 rooms; originally it had 36. We want to make them a little larger, and have a couple of small suites. […] We would love to have a restaurant on the first floor. We envision something like the Metro Diner. That would be great. We are across the street from Bama Pie and a block from TU, less than 2 miles from Hillcrest and St Johns Hospital, close to downtown, and of course ON HISTORICAL ROUTE 66, so we hope to get a god mix of clientele and retail. And we don’t know when we will be finished. At least a year, I would say.
On a related note, Group M also recently finished its Eleventh Street Lofts project, housed in a former laundry building on 2002 E. 11th St. It has 10 loft apartments for lease, ranging from $950 to $1,325 per month. Here is a photo of the building and one of the lofts:
(Loft photos courtesy of Group M Investments)
drool, looks fantastic
I found a picture in a Casa Loma green folder of my parents and family having dinner at the restaurant. If you would like a copy, I can send it my email.
I’ve love to see the photo. My e-mail is route66news@yahoo.com
In 1941-2 I lived in this building behind my father’s shoe repair shop. It was located next to the Casa Loma Barber Shop. I did not see in the newspaper account a listing of his shop. I was 7 years old so I don’t remember the name other than it could have been Reliable Shoe Repair. His last name was Hawley so it might have been Hawley’s.
I remember visiting the drug store, bakery and grocery. I know the year because I watched my father huddle next to the radio listening to the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
i think this is awesome it will bring more jobs to ollahoma
As a child, I still remember getting my hair cut at the barber shop (I think I had my first haircut there) and eat donuts at the “SpudNuts” donut shop. Theu used potato flour and producted the lightest donuts I have ever eaten. One could never get enough of those “SpudNuts”. I noticed that the middle school on the corner is gone. Sad! My mother and father went to that school before going to central downtown.