Mayo Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Mayo Hotel is a historic building located in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma
at 115 West 5th Street. This Chicago School
(Sullivanesque) Building was built in 1925. It was designed by architect George Winkler and financed by John D. and Cass A. Mayo. The base of two-story Doric
columns supports fourteen floors marked with false terracotta balconies, and a two-story crown of stone and a dentil
ed cornice
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1980. It was listed under National Register Criterion C, and its NRIS number is 80003303.
Once the tallest building in Oklahoma, the hotel originally had 600 rooms. Ceiling fans in each room and Tulsa's first running ice water made the hotel a haven from summer heat.
It hosted many of Tulsa's most notable 20th century visitors, including President John F. Kennedy
, Bob Hope
, Charles Lindbergh
, Babe Ruth
, Charlie Chaplin
and Mae West
. The Mayo hotel also served as residence to notable oilmen of the era, including J. Paul Getty
. In William Inge
's 1953 Pulitzer Prize
winning play, Picnic
, the Mayo Hotel is the place where the lead character Hal intends to find work as a bellhop.
A failed renovation attempt in the early 1980s left the building unoccupied and missing many of its original fixtures and interior ornamentation. Abandoned for 20 years, the Mayo seemed destined for the wrecking ball until June 2001, when the Snyder family purchased it for $250,000 and began renovation efforts. Initial efforts focused on restoring the lower floors, which became a popular venue for galas, proms, receptions and meetings. An $11.2 million project to convert seven upper floors into 70 loft apartments began in 2008. $4.9 million in public funds were allocated to the project from the Tulsa County development package known as "Vision 2025" approved by voters in 2003. The hotel owners provided an additional $6.3 million. The total cost of the building renovation has been reported to be $40 million.
As part of this renovation project, the Mayo also became the first Oklahoma building to complete environmental remediation under a new brownfields
program sponsored by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission
.
Apartment tenants began moving into the restored building in late August 2009, and the hotel reopened for business in September, with a formal grand reopening in December. The Mayo Hotel privately opened early for their first guest, Britney Spears
who booked 80 rooms for her tour stop in Tulsa on September 15th, 2009. Since then, the hotel has hosted numerous guests such as One Republic, Lady Gaga
, Bob Seger
, Josh Groban
, and many more.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
at 115 West 5th Street. This Chicago School
Chicago school (architecture)
Chicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century...
(Sullivanesque) Building was built in 1925. It was designed by architect George Winkler and financed by John D. and Cass A. Mayo. The base of two-story Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
columns supports fourteen floors marked with false terracotta balconies, and a two-story crown of stone and a dentil
Dentil
In classical architecture a dentil is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice.The Roman architect Vitruvius In classical architecture a dentil (from Lat. dens, a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice.The Roman architect...
ed cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1980. It was listed under National Register Criterion C, and its NRIS number is 80003303.
Once the tallest building in Oklahoma, the hotel originally had 600 rooms. Ceiling fans in each room and Tulsa's first running ice water made the hotel a haven from summer heat.
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
, Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
, Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
and Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
. The Mayo hotel also served as residence to notable oilmen of the era, including J. Paul Getty
J. Paul Getty
Jean Paul Getty was an American industrialist. He founded the Getty Oil Company, and in 1957 Fortune magazine named him the richest living American, whilst the 1966 Guinness Book of Records named him as the world's richest private citizen, worth an estimated $1,200 million. At his death, he was...
. In William Inge
William Inge
William Motter Inge was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, and one of these, Picnic, earned him a Pulitzer Prize...
's 1953 Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winning play, Picnic
Picnic (play)
Picnic is a 1953 play by William Inge. The play premiered at the Music Box Theatre, Broadway on 19 February 1953 in a Theatre Guild production, directed by Joshua Logan, which ran for 477 performances....
, the Mayo Hotel is the place where the lead character Hal intends to find work as a bellhop.
A failed renovation attempt in the early 1980s left the building unoccupied and missing many of its original fixtures and interior ornamentation. Abandoned for 20 years, the Mayo seemed destined for the wrecking ball until June 2001, when the Snyder family purchased it for $250,000 and began renovation efforts. Initial efforts focused on restoring the lower floors, which became a popular venue for galas, proms, receptions and meetings. An $11.2 million project to convert seven upper floors into 70 loft apartments began in 2008. $4.9 million in public funds were allocated to the project from the Tulsa County development package known as "Vision 2025" approved by voters in 2003. The hotel owners provided an additional $6.3 million. The total cost of the building renovation has been reported to be $40 million.
As part of this renovation project, the Mayo also became the first Oklahoma building to complete environmental remediation under a new brownfields
Brownfield land
Brownfield sites are abandoned or underused industrial and commercial facilities available for re-use. Expansion or redevelopment of such a facility may be complicated by real or perceived environmental contaminations. Cf. Waste...
program sponsored by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission
Oklahoma Corporation Commission
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is the public utilities commission of the state of Oklahoma run by three state-wide elected Commissioners, assisted by over 400 employees...
.
Apartment tenants began moving into the restored building in late August 2009, and the hotel reopened for business in September, with a formal grand reopening in December. The Mayo Hotel privately opened early for their first guest, Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
who booked 80 rooms for her tour stop in Tulsa on September 15th, 2009. Since then, the hotel has hosted numerous guests such as One Republic, Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
, Bob Seger
Bob Seger
Robert Clark "Bob" Seger is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s...
, Josh Groban
Josh Groban
Joshua Winslow "Josh" Groban is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His four solo albums have been certified at least multi-platinum, and in 2007, he was charted as the number-one best selling artist in the United States with over 21 million records in that country...
, and many more.