Oklahoma Dept. of Commerce Building “Drives Creativity”

Dena A. Edwards

Walking into the Oklahoma Department of Commerce building is like stepping through a portal of time – and back again.

Located at 900 N. Stiles in Oklahoma City, the complex consists of two buildings combined into one. At the heart of the structure lies what was originally the Maywood Presbyterian Church, constructed in 1907. Wrapping seamlessly around this, the remainder of the building was constructed over 80 years later.

Just after the turn of the century, while leaders from the Oklahoma and Indian Territories were dreaming of building our great state, leaders from the Cumberland Presbyterian Church were likewise dreaming of building a new facility, one that would house 1,000 members, although their membership only stood at 200.

This didn’t deter the congregation, who within a few weeks raised what was then an impressive $10,000 to purchase three lots near Stiles Circle – a suburban landmark originally designed to be a turnaround for a trolley – and to pay architect William Meredith to design a church building much different from their current small frame facility.

His vision of the new structure was of a two-story square red brick building with a partially exposed stone basement. The shape was a modified cross, with each arm the same length, and a tall tower on each of three corners.

Throughout history, churches were designed with strong vertical lines that stretched toward the heavens. Meredith’s church creation was no different. Each side of the building proposed a large arched window as its focal point, topped by steeply angled gabled roofs with pointed spires. Tall pilasters would flank each of these gabled sections, topped with domed caps. The highest point of the structure would be the bell tower, with finials on all four corners of its roof, as well as a spire rising up from its sharp gable.

He designed the church with a Victorian Romanesque architectural influence, evident through the use of stone and high contrast buff-colored brick accents. Stripes of the tan brick would wrap around the corners of the building – providing a horizontal balance – as well as create a two-tiered eyebrow over each of the arching windows. The uppermost windows would have a double arrow-loop motif above them, also in the contrasting brick color.

Meredith designed the building corners closest to the bell tower with a castle-like appearance, topping them with metal battlements. A Gothic Revival influence could be seen through the use of decorative metal pilasters, and molded stone corbel-supported stone window sills.

Meredith’s vision, and the congregation’s dream, was realized when the year-long construction – much of which was completed by the Reverend and church members – was completed and the Maywood Presbyterian Church was dedicated July 5, 1908.

Stylish homes soon filled the neighborhood surrounding the Maywood in what was Oklahoma City’s first suburban addition. For the next two decades, the growing congregation flocked to the church, and was welcomed into the auditorium by high quality Axminster rugs, oak pews, and beautiful stained glass windows.

With mounting racial tensions during the late 1920s and ‘30s, they eventually sold their building in December 1946 for $35,000.

Ten years later, the New Zion Baptist Church purchased the building. Over the next few decades, the property changed hands again and gradually fell into a state of disrepair. By August 1980, it was abandoned. Many of the fixtures were sold at auction, including the bell from the tower and the stained glass windows.

One owner attempted a partial remodel, but the work was never completed. The building continued to deteriorate and was vandalized and taken over by vagrants.

When the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority bought the property, it had been condemned, and sat dilapidated and dangerous amongst a neighborhood of what had become old, often abandoned, derelict houses. The roof was full of holes, the windows were all missing, water was standing in the basement, and it was a completely unusable space according to Joe Van Bullard, current director of the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority.

“It was located between I-235 and Lincoln, and was a very important piece to the community,” Van Bullard said. “So instead of bulldozing it, we decided to try to resurrect it.”

In May 1985, the building again referred to as the Maywood Presbyterian Church was declared eligible for the National Register of Historic Places by the Office of Historic Preservation.

That same year, the Urban Renewal Authority agreed to sell the site and adjacent block to HTB Inc, an architect, engineer and planning firm.

Rex M. Ball, then CEO and chairman of HTB, was principle in charge of the project. He gives credit to his brother, Leonard, for locating the structure and convincing the company to do the restoration.

“It was Leonard who believed we should be ‘urban pioneers’ and saw the potential in the building to become the new HTB headquarters,” Ball said. “It was a step that brought attention to an area, what was potentially there, and what was possible. That was the major contribution of the project.”

And it worked. In October 1997, the Oklahoma Department of Commerce moved into the beautiful new – and old – structure, and became part of the now thriving state capitol complex and a fast developing 200-acre health center.

But it wasn’t an easy process. It took two years, $3.2 million, and the teamwork of architects, engineers, planners, designers and many others from HTB to convert the ramshackle but dignified old church into what today is considered by many to be the most unique and beautiful government office building in the state.

“Our biggest challenge was to keep the original structure,” Ball said.

HTB replaced the roof and stabilized the exterior brick walls with long metal tie rods that extended 20 or more feet across the interior to connect the brick walls to each other. The ends of the metal rods were covered with decorative black iron stars.

Architects used the 7,000-square-foot church as the front corner of a larger building, making the entire square footage 39,750. They used the red brick walls of the original church as the focal point of the lobby, the vaulted ceiling topped off with an expanse of arched glass skylights, used to differentiate the old building from the new addition and to bring in a vast amount of natural light.

Both exteriors merge seamlessly, utilizing the same red brick, buff brick accents, and arched windows. And although the new addition is primarily a flat roof, facades of steep gables were constructed to provide harmony. The placement of squares of cobalt tiles as accents add a subtle variety to the overall appearance.

Most of the interior was in extremely poor condition, but HTB was able to save some of the original plaster and paint. Some lower walls were found to be painted a buttercup yellow, with rust-hued upper walls, separated by a stenciled geometric pattern, all of which are consistent with a Prairie style of design, popular in the early 1900s.

A modern glass elevator is situated inside the corner of the original church – flanked by remnants of what many call the Tree of Life mural – and provides a view of the brick walls, and through the now empty window openings into the open lobby. A few relics and fixtures found during restoration are at the base of the elevator in a bed of sand.

These glimpses of the past provide a welcome juxtaposition of style and time periods. While the old church structure brings in the vibrant history and visual interest, the new addition is nothing but modern, utilizing a clean white color, high tech metals, modern lighting and systems, and furniture spaces common with contemporary city office buildings. The space is sprinkled with sections of old brick walls and glimpses of antique stained glass windows believed to be originals located through antique shops and collectors.

In a nod to the future, on the top floor where once a church choir sang, the ceiling is covered with a surrealistic mural that artists Robert and Douglas Dafford call the “Sky Painting.” The modern mural displays an ocean floor, space, the sky, a curtain to represent the fabric of time, plus many other elements designed to make workers “look up and wonder,” Robert Dafford said.

Natalie Shirley, Oklahoma’s Secretary of Commerce and Tourism, claims the building was part of why she accepted the position.

“It drives creativity,” Shirley said. “It’s the best juxtaposition of history, present and future I have ever had the privilege of working in.”

As the lead agency for economic development in Oklahoma, Shirley said being housed in a building as unique as theirs – one with its roots in history and its branches in the future – sends out a great message to our citizens and entrepreneurs.

“(To visitors,) this building says that this department is creative, forward thinking,” she continued, “that we aren’t locked into one way of approaching a problem. We are constantly looking for creative, cutting edge solutions for problems Oklahoma businesses face.”