The Mayo Hotel is a historic hotel opened in 1925, located at 115 West 5th Street in downtown

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

History

Early years

The Mayo Hotel was built in 1925, designed by architect

George Winkler George Winkler (1869 – 1962) was an American architect who practiced in Pennsylvania, Florida and Oklahoma from 1903 to 1953. Background and career Winkler was born in Donegal, Pennsylvania, in 1869 and was educated at Curry College in Pittsb ...

, and financed by John D. and Cass A. Mayo.Robert Evatt
"A milestone for the Mayo"
''

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is the daily newspaper for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. Tulsa World Media Company is part of Lee Enterprises. The new owners announced in January 202 ...

'', August 6, 2009. The base of two-story

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columns supports fourteen floors marked with false

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balconies, and a two-story crown of stone and a

dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Reviv ...

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

Mayo Hotel
at Tulsa Preservation Commission website (retrieved October 29, 2009). At the time the 600-room hotel was the tallest building in Oklahoma. Ceiling fans in each room and Tulsa's first running ice water made the hotel a haven from summer heat. The Mayo hosted many of

's most notable 20th-century visitors, including President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

Jack Dempsey William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. ...

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

and

Mae West Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...

. It was also the residence of some notable oilmen of the era, including J. Paul Getty. In

William Inge William Motter Inge (; May 3, 1913 – June 10, 1973) 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 Broad ...

's 1953

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

winning play, ''

Picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...

'', the Mayo Hotel is where the lead character Hal intends to find work as a bellhop. In 1951, the segregated hotel had its first black guest, when President

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

personally phoned the hotel from the White House and asked that his daughter

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be allowed to bring her black maid into the hotel. She was still required to use the service elevator, however.http://nr2_shpo.okstate.edu/QueryResult.aspx?id=80003303

Decline

In 1955, the original two-story lobby was reduced to one floor, with a new function room, the Pompeian Court, created in the former lobby space on the mezzanine level. In 1968, the Mayo family sold the hotel to

Fairmont Hotels Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a global chain of luxury hotels that operates more than 70 properties worldwide, with a strong presence in Canada. The company originated from two hotel businesses established in the late 19th century, the Canadian Pa ...

, which renamed it the Fairmont Mayo Hotel. Fairmont sold the hotel to Gateway Hotel Corp. in 1977, and it returned to its original name. In 1980, the hotel was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. On January 9, 1981, Daon Corp, a Newport Beach subsidiary of a Vancouver-based firm, bought the hotel for $4.6 million, announcing plans to refurbish the property.

Closure

Daon closed the hotel in early 1981, for what they announced would be a 12 to 14-month renovation, which would involve restoring the original two-story lobby, combining and enlarging the guest rooms, and adding new dining options. They sold the hotel's fittings, laid off the hotel's staff, and began gutting the interior, tearing out the floors and walls. However, by November 1981, they had ceased work. Daon refused to comment publicly, but put the now shuttered and partially-stripped structure up for sale in December 1981. The abandoned, incomplete renovation left the building unoccupied and missing many of its original fixtures and its interior ornamentation. In 1987, Bruce Robson, Joe Robson and Jack Neely purchased the Mayo, announcing plans to reopen it as a luxury hotel. They proposed various restoration concepts over the 13 years they owned the property, but eventually put it up for sale after Tulsa voters rejected a measure in November 2000 to finance a new convention center, which would have brought more guests to a reopened hotel.

Restoration

Vacant for 20 years, the Mayo seemed destined for demolition until June 2001, when John Snyder purchased it for $250,000 and began renovation. Initial efforts focused on restoring the lower floors. The partially-flooded basement was drained of water and renovated as a public parking garage, which opened in 2002. The revenue from the garage financed the renovation of the historic ground floor public rooms, which reopened in 2003 and quickly became a popular venue for galas, proms, receptions and meetings. An $11.2 million project to convert seven upper floors into 76 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"Kirby Lee Davis
"Tulsa's Mayo Hotel renovation scores $23.5M from IBC Bank"
''The Journal Record'', July 1, 2008. approved by voters in 2003. The hotel owners provided an additional $6.3 million. The total cost of the renovation was reported to be $40 million. As part of this renovation, the Mayo also became the first Oklahoma building to complete

environmental remediation Environmental remediation deals with the removal of pollution or contaminants from environmental media such as soil, groundwater, sediment, or surface water. Remedial action is generally subject to an array of regulatory requirements, and may al ...

under a new

brownfields In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...

program sponsored by the

Oklahoma Corporation Commission The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is the public utilities commission of the U.S state of Oklahoma run by three statewide elected commissioners. Authorized to employ more than 400 employees, it regulates oil and gas drilling, utilities and teleph ...

. The renovation project paid special attention to restoring the hotel's noted Crystal Ballroom (so named because of its crystal chandeliers) to return it to its 1920s grandeur.Terry Hood. "Revitalizing Tulsa's Mayo Hotel." News on 6. July 17th 2009.
Accessed October 4, 2018. Apartment tenants began moving into the restored building in late August 2009. The 102-room hotel portion opened privately for its first guest,

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

, who booked 80 rooms for her tour stop in Tulsa on September 15, 2009. The hotel opened for business in late September 2009. A formal grand reopening was held in December 2009. Since then, the hotel has hosted numerous famous guests, including

OneRepublic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002. It consists of lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Tedder, lead guitarist and violist Zach Filkins, rhythm guitarist Drew Brown, bassist and cellis ...

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, and

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In popular culture

In the 2022

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television series

Tulsa King ''Tulsa King'' is an American crime drama television series created by Taylor Sheridan with Terence Winter showrunning for Paramount+. The series stars Sylvester Stallone, marking his first leading role in a scripted television series. Stallone ...

, main character Dwight "The General" Manfredi, portrayed by

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

, resides in the Mayo Hotel.

References

External links

Mayo Hotel Official SiteMayo Hotel at Skyscraper PageVoices of Oklahoma interview with Margery Mayo Bird.
First person interview conducted on December 9, 2009, with Margery Mayo Bird, daughter of the founder of the Mayo Hotel.
Tulsa Historical Society Honorees
{{s-end Skyscrapers in Tulsa, Oklahoma Economy of Tulsa, Oklahoma Hotel buildings completed in 1925 Hotels established in 1925 Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma National Register of Historic Places in Tulsa, Oklahoma Skyscraper hotels in Oklahoma Residential skyscrapers in Oklahoma Chicago school architecture in Oklahoma