Educational Tours: Tuesday, May 4, 2010

 

8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.: The Second Oklahoma Land Run: The MAPS Plan That Saved Downtown

Hear the Oklahoma City story – from urban renewal to oil boom to the bust that brought Oklahoma City’s own “Great Depression.” Learn the secrets of the MAPS Plan that built or renovated nine public venues – seven of them downtown – and how those projects sparked a resurgence with $5 billion of new investment, the second tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi, and the NBA Oklahoma City Thunder.
Bus and walking; D02: MAPS on the registration form; $25

8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.: Okla Modern: A Recent Past Tour

At the end of World War II, Oklahoma City was 26 square miles in size. By the early 1970s, the city’s square mileage had exploded to some 622 square miles - more than 23 times its size in the 1940s.  Located on the eastern edge of the Southern Great Plains, the city had no topographical boundaries.  It could easily grow in all directions. Oklahoma City’s rapid growth was due to the country’s incredible prosperity in the 1950s and 1960s. During this time, city leaders experimented with modern architecture, new materials, and bold building prototypes. Many of these contemporary landmarks remain  and they remain relatively unaltered. Known as "Recent Past" structures in other places, these “Okla Modern” buildings are gaining new appreciation in the form of rehabilitations.
Bus and walking; D01: Urban Renewal on the registration form; $25

8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.: Rubbin' Buckles on the Chisholm Trail

Experience the Chisholm Trail at the Chilsolm Trail Heritage Museum. Here, through the special effects of the Experience Theater, you’ll smell coffee and bacon as you learn about the Trail from Animatronic Jessie Chisholm. Afterwards, you’ll enjoy a real chuckwagon lunch and do some country line dancin’. Then it’s off to Main Street where you’ll hear about the development of downtown’s stepping stone trail, shop 28,000 square feet of retail, visit the Historic Palace Theatre, view the new Crape Myrtle mural, or tour the restored Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired Prairie House. Heading home, you’ll view the Historic Lindley House Bed and Breakfast.
Bus and walking; D03: Chisholm Trail on the registration form; $45

8:00 a.m. - 5:15 p.m.: Gateway to the Chickasaw National Recreational Area

If you are a Main Streeter who enjoys the outdoors – this tour is for you! Sulphur Main Street enjoys a unique and favorable relationship with the National Park bordering its town. During the tour you’ll have a chance to tour Turner Falls, a 77-foot natural water fall, before visiting the Chickasaw Nation Cultural Center to enjoy a relaxing lunch and tour the new facility, which is expected to draw more than 750,000 people a year. Next, you’ll visit historic Downtown Sulphur to do a little shopping, listen to music by local musicians on the plaza, or simply sightsee. From Sulphur, the tour will head to the beautiful Chickasaw National Recreational Area, where you’ll visit the Travertine Nature Center for refreshments, then walk to Little Niagra. This tour is sponsored by the Chickasaw Nation.
Bus and walking; D04: Chickasaw/Sulpher on the registration form; $45

1:00 - 4:00 p.m.: Design After Disaster: Oklahoma City National Memorial

Where were you on April 19, 1995? On that day in Oklahoma City, a truck bomb targeted and destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people and injuring more than 600. In addition to the federal building, 12 other buildings collapsed and more than 350 buildings were severely damaged. There will be two sections to the tour of the memorial: National Park Service guides will lead you through the outdoor memorial, while Oklahoma City Memorial volunteers and staff will take you through the inspirational museum. The outdoor memorial is the result of an international design competition that drew more than 600 entries from around the world. The award-winning memorial is now a gathering place for all types of social causes, including the annual Oklahoma Memorial Marathon, which attracted 19,000 runners in 2009. The museum will take you through the stages of shock, disbelief, anger, frustration, acceptance, recovery, and even forgiveness and reconciliation. Come see how this museum so well delivers its mission statement: “We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived, and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope, and serenity.”
Walking; D05: OKC Memorial Tour on the registration form; $30