An Urgent Plea for Help in Oklahoma City
South Robinson Underpass, Oklahoma City
Credit: Tom Elmore
Sept. 24, 2009
Dear Preservation 911,
For 80 years, the S. Robinson and S. Walker Avenue railway underpasses flanking OKC Union Station's terminal building (300 SW 7th) have ensured safe passage for the people of the region.
These underpasses, like much of the rest of the sprawling, 8-block-long OKC Union Station complex, were built, largely by hand, by craftsmen of our great grandparents' generation. They have required virtually no maintenance through the years since 1930 and would easily serve for another 80 years (despite the city of OKC's obvious disdain for them and avoidance even of sweeping the protected pedestrian walkways and keeping their lighting in working order).
Perhaps their quality, elegance and longevity is why the Oklahoma Department of Transportation is so hell-bent to destroy them.
ODOT has never built anything remotely to this standard of quality.
In fact, the longstanding east-west highway passage through downtown OKC they now call "The Crosstown Expressway," was built by them, and, because they claim that, like most of the other stuff they've built, it's about to fall down, they've insisted on creating a new path for the road directly through the Union Station rail yard. This plan will very soon destroy not just the rail yard, but the elegant Robinson and Walker underpasses, as well.
Some years back, a seasoned documentary historian charged with researching and recording assets such as the underpasses that would be lost to the highway project explained in an interview with DAILY OKLAHOMAN columnist Ann DeFrange why ODOT would thoughtlessly threaten these treasures. In effect, he told the reporter, "Highway builders are focused on getting their projects finished; they don't care what they destroy."
The story goes that when DeFrange actually included his statement in her story, ODOT threatened to withhold the historian's pay until he "re-interviewed" with the columnist and altered his statement.
You see—"a little light nearly got under the door"—and ODOT just simply couldn't abide that.
Well—now the question: It's very late. ODOT contractors have already destroyed the passenger platforms in the Union Station yard—and will very imminently threaten the underpasses.
It's said of them that they are eligible to be listed on the National Register.
The State Historic Preservation Office completely collapsed under pressure from ODOT—and never even held any public hearings about their proposed destruction.
Can you help us save these underpasses?
Thank you.
TOM ELMORE, Executive Director
North American Transportation Institute
PO Box 6617
Oklahoma City, OK 73153-0617
Tel: 405 794 7163
www.advancedtransport.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Depot_(Oklahoma_City)
http://sbcglobalpwp.att.net/w/i/willvdv/stbcokc.html
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Preservation 911 is a message board open to all readers. While National Trust staff will respond to the extent feasible, this will not be possible in all cases. We encourage other readers involved in state or local preservation to respond with advice or assistance. To contact either a regional office of the National Trust, a statewide or local nonprofit organization, or your state's historic preservation office, click here for a state-by-state list. The National Trust's regional and field offices bring the programs and tools of the Trust to communities across the country. They offer technical assistance through consultations and field visits and financial help through small grants. They hold educational programs for professional preservationists and work to foster policies that help historic places. They also provide leadership on issues that concern entire regions, such as saving historic schools, fighting sprawl, and revitalizing cities.
