Updates on Abundant Life Bldg (Tulsa Club moved to its own thread)

[SXSW]

The Tulsa Club is a treasure worth saving and renovating.  Abundant Life is a piece of junk that is better off in a landfill.  Tear it down and redevelop all of those lots along Boulder.

[Townsend]

The Tulsa Club is a treasure worth saving and renovating.  Abundant Life is a piece of junk that is better off in a landfill.  Tear it down and redevelop all of those lots along Boulder.

The homeowners to the West of it would probably agree...what a big asspimple to stare at out your back door.

[DowntownDan]

I'm a fan of historic preservation, but I can't find it in me to support preservation of that windowless diamond pattern monstrosity.  It's just plain hideous. 

[AngieB]

It's sad because at one time it was quite beautiful. My mom worked there and for Oral for many, many years. Employees used to take turns giving tours of the building when people would come in to see it. She has told me there were different types of wood from all over the world throughout. I wish I could see pics of the interior.

[Conan71]

It's sad because at one time it was quite beautiful. My mom worked there and for Oral for many, many years. Employees used to take turns giving tours of the building when people would come in to see it. She has told me there were different types of wood from all over the world throughout. I wish I could see pics of the interior.

It’s pretty depressing:

http://www.abandonedok.com/abundant-life-building/

[AngieB]

It’s pretty depressing:

http://www.abandonedok.com/abundant-life-building/

I meant then, not now.

[cannon_fodder]

It's sad because at one time it was quite beautiful. My mom worked there and for Oral for many, many years. Employees used to take turns giving tours of the building when people would come in to see it. She has told me there were different types of wood from all over the world throughout. I wish I could see pics of the interior.

[edit]I was posting as others were!  I looked, but could find zero pictures of the interior from "back in the day."  Perhaps supporting the conclusion that it wasn't anything spectacular?[/edit]

Wish granted:
http://www.abandonedok.com/abundant-life-building/

If this building was in great shape, it would be a hard sell with zero windows and no updates since the 1970s.  As it stands, it appears to be trashed and the roof leaking.  The guy who went through it said it was an office frozen in the early 1980s. The pictures show very few sparks of historic greatness (mostly a marble entryway) and otherwise crappy drop ceilings and cheap wood veneer that is falling off.  I can't imagine anyone wanting to save it out of anything other than nostalgia - which is a hard sell at ~20mil to renovate (using the Tulsa Club figure).

[AngieB]

Perhaps supporting the conclusion that it wasn't anything spectacular?

Oral didn't do anything that wasn't spectacular. Like I said, my mom worked in that building from the beginning - I don't think there would have been tours of it if it wasn't worth seeing.

[cannon_fodder]

That's a fair point, but it is also true that he abandoned the building before it was 20 years old. The only other use was as a telephone switch (basically the same as AT&Ts giant brick building downtown).  I guess its possible that AT&T removed much of the gilding when it took over the building, but looking at the pictures of the Tulsa Club you can see it was constructed with marble, brass, solid wood paneling, and terrazzo throughout... even after decades of neglect, vandals, and fire, much of those things can still be appreciated.  Looking at the pictures of the Abundant Life building, other than the entry it doesn't rise to that level.

Maybe that's why Oral abandoned it?

Interesting article from the ORU newspaper:
http://oruoracle.com/news/historic-oral-roberts-building-at-risk-of-demolition/

Last significant article from Tulsa World:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/downtown/abundant-life-tulsa-club-buildings-remain-closed/article_a5718efb-2c10-5aa2-9c73-60da2d7be9ed.html

I cannot find the lawsuit that is supposedly holding up any activity on the property. It appears a former lender tried to foreclose, someone filed a quit title, all sorts of fun...
https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P2-34976091/one-key-question-in-abundant-life-foreclosure-in-tulsa
https://www.questia.com/read/1P2-34933388/counterclaims-challenge-foreclosure-lawsuit-against
https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P2-34849457/lender-files-foreclosure-lawsuit-against-tulsa-s-abundant
https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P2-34933388/counterclaims-challenge-foreclosure-lawsuit-against

Someone would have to call Brian Feese and get the scoop...

[AngieB]

That's a fair point, but it is also true that he abandoned the building before it was 20 years old. The only other use was as a telephone switch (basically the same as AT&Ts giant brick building downtown).  I guess its possible that AT&T removed much of the gilding when it took over the building, but looking at the pictures of the Tulsa Club you can see it was constructed with marble, brass, solid wood paneling, and terrazzo throughout... even after decades of neglect, vandals, and fire, much of those things can still be appreciated.  Looking at the pictures of the Abundant Life building, other than the entry it doesn't rise to that level.

Maybe that's why Oral abandoned it?

Interesting article from the ORU newspaper:
http://oruoracle.com/news/historic-oral-roberts-building-at-risk-of-demolition/

Last significant article from Tulsa World:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/downtown/abundant-life-tulsa-club-buildings-remain-closed/article_a5718efb-2c10-5aa2-9c73-60da2d7be9ed.html

I cannot find the lawsuit that is supposedly holding up any activity on the property. It appears a former lender tried to foreclose, someone filed a quit title, all sorts of fun...
https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P2-34976091/one-key-question-in-abundant-life-foreclosure-in-tulsa
https://www.questia.com/read/1P2-34933388/counterclaims-challenge-foreclosure-lawsuit-against
https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P2-34849457/lender-files-foreclosure-lawsuit-against-tulsa-s-abundant
https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P2-34933388/counterclaims-challenge-foreclosure-lawsuit-against

Someone would have to call Brian Feese and get the scoop...

There's no point in even discussing it with you, c_f. You're like a dog with a bone. (And for what it's worth, there's a little place called ORU that all operations were moved to from the Abundant Life Building...)

[Conan71]

That's a fair point, but it is also true that he abandoned the building before it was 20 years old. The only other use was as a telephone switch (basically the same as AT&Ts giant brick building downtown).  I guess its possible that AT&T removed much of the gilding when it took over the building, but looking at the pictures of the Tulsa Club you can see it was constructed with marble, brass, solid wood paneling, and terrazzo throughout... even after decades of neglect, vandals, and fire, much of those things can still be appreciated.  Looking at the pictures of the Abundant Life building, other than the entry it doesn't rise to that level.

Maybe that's why Oral abandoned it?

Interesting article from the ORU newspaper:
http://oruoracle.com/news/historic-oral-roberts-building-at-risk-of-demolition/

Last significant article from Tulsa World:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/downtown/abundant-life-tulsa-club-buildings-remain-closed/article_a5718efb-2c10-5aa2-9c73-60da2d7be9ed.html

I cannot find the lawsuit that is supposedly holding up any activity on the property. It appears a former lender tried to foreclose, someone filed a quit title, all sorts of fun...
https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P2-34976091/one-key-question-in-abundant-life-foreclosure-in-tulsa
https://www.questia.com/read/1P2-34933388/counterclaims-challenge-foreclosure-lawsuit-against
https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P2-34849457/lender-files-foreclosure-lawsuit-against-tulsa-s-abundant
https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P2-34933388/counterclaims-challenge-foreclosure-lawsuit-against

Someone would have to call Brian Feese and get the scoop...

Oral’s buildings were very significant Mid-Century designs in their day and are still looked upon by some architecture buffs with favor.  I suspect had the Abundant Life Building been constructed with windows it might have found a better re-purpose and would not sit vacant now.

Angie, do you have any idea why this was constructed without any windows?

[AquaMan]

Conan, I was told it was to keep utility costs low. It was also around the time of East Central high school construction using the same idea. Cheaper to heat/cool and maintain since windows need cleaned, caulked, replaced. I remember it as a youth being pretty cool.

[Hoss]

Conan, I was told it was to keep utility costs low. It was also around the time of East Central high school construction using the same idea. Cheaper to heat/cool and maintain since windows need cleaned, caulked, replaced. I remember it as a youth being pretty cool.

Ah yes, ECHS...or as us alumni chose to call it -- "The Prison".

[Townsend]

There's no point in even discussing it with you, c_f. You're like a dog with a bone. (And for what it's worth, there's a little place called ORU that all operations were moved to from the Abundant Life Building...)

I believe you and I might have differing opinions on the attractiveness of ORU.

[rebound]

The ORU architecture is awesome!   They used a little too much gold (I know, Iknow...) for me, but as long as it is kept up, it will be a showplace for MCM design.