Oklahoma Modern

For the month of May the National Trust for Historic Places has promoted National Preservation Month through a campaign known as This Place Matters . The site invites normal Joes (and Joe-ettes) to submit photos or videos with their story of a place that matters. I scanned the list of submissions for submissions from Tulsa, Bartlesville or Oklahoma City. None. What about Norman? Hmmm... maybe Ponca City? Okay, I'm desperate- what about Muskogee? Nothing from Oklahoma at all! So no place in the Sooner State matters? It's Easy! Register on the National Trust's website, www.preservationnation.org Download and print out a “This Place Matters” sign from the National Trust website. Snap a photo of people holding the sign and standing in front of a building or place of particular personal significance. Then, upload the photo (or photos) to the National Trust's This Place Matters website, and post a brief story about the place and why it matters. Alternatively, upload a...

The widening of I-44 through Tulsa passed a new milestone last week. Skelly Drive between Riverside Drive and Yale Avenue has remained virtually unchanged since it was built in 1957. In 2005 ODOT released this PDF showing plans of the proposed highway widening west of Yale. The massive, and controversial, undertaking of widening this stretch of interstate began on the west end near Riverside. Homes near Peoria have been moved or demolished. But last week the first recent work on the west side of Yale Avenue was visible as two duplexes were leveled.