Tapping Communities to Reimagine Historic Spaces

An external view of the Brockway Center in Oklahoma City.

When Oklahoma City residents were asked how to revive two buildings that once served Black residents, they weren’t short on ideas. They asked if the former home of a Black entrepreneur became a performance and studio space for Black artists. Could the former meeting site for an organization dedicated to helping the local community become a lounge and office space for local health and wellness businesses?

In 2020, Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority (OCURA), a public redevelopment agency, received a $75,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund to preserve the Brockway Center and Lyons-Luster Mansion, two of the few remaining buildings that harken back to the vibrant legacy of Black residents in Oklahoma City. Both buildings are currently owned by the Oklahoma City Redevelopment Authority, which is run by OCURA. Once known as the organization that propelled urban renewal, OCURA is now trying to preserve some of the remaining history.

The Brockway Center served as the headquarters for the Oklahoma City Federation of Colored Women’s Club for 50 years, according to local media station KFOR. The organization, which was started in 1911, supported young Black women and children, “[improved] the quality of life in local Black neighborhoods, and [advocated] for racial equality,” The Oklahoman reported.

In 2019, just a year before OCURA received a grant to develop a business plan for the building, the Brockway Center was facing demolition. Now, it’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the community is imagining a new era for the building that honors its historic past and looks ahead. 

Community members also envisioned new ways to use the Lyons-Luster Mansion. According to The Action Fund, the property, which was built between 1912-1926 in Oklahoma City’s historic Deep Deuce neighborhood, served as the home of Black entrepreneur S.D. Lyons. According to The Oklahoman, the businessman operated a cosmetic company, known for products such as “Sun-Ray Face Bleach, ‘pressing oil’ for hair, face powder and perfumes,” on the property. 

The African American Heritage Preservation Foundation notes the mansion survived land acquisition during urban renewal in the 1970s, as well as the demolition of much of the property in Deep Deuce to make way for construction of Interstate 235. Lyons’ stepson, Melvin Luster, eventually owned and maintained the property. The family retained ownership of the property until 2015. The mansion is currently on the National Register of Historic Places. 

“It’s one of the last remaining properties that serves as a reminder of the wealthy upper class in Deep Deuce,” Cayla Lewis, then-executive director at Preservation Oklahoma, told The Oklahoman in 2019. “It’s been empty for years. The number of historic Black properties we have in Oklahoma City is dwindling. The more we can save and preserve, the more of that story and legacy we can tell.”

Since receiving the grant, OCURA has worked with the Action Fund on preservation and community engagement efforts to help reimagine the future of both spaces. A feasibility study conducted by New York firm AEA Consulting was completed earlier this year. The study included additional market research and suggestions regarding potential community-based governance and business structures that could support sustainable versions of the community’s ideas. 

Design plans for the Brockway Center and the Lyons-Luster Mansion were completed by Open Design Collective, a local nonprofit that works with underrepresented communities on city planning and design initiatives that prioritize reparative justice, and include office space for health and wellness businesses, a tea bar café, and community meeting spaces. Future design plans for the Lyons-Luster Mansion envision a restaurant, bar, and lounge that can accommodate live music in the space, taking advantage of its location in the middle of a growing entertainment and music hub within Oklahoma City. An adjacent building would host artists in residency and feature studio space.

Vanessa Morrison, Open Design Collective’s CEO, said the organization consulted experts in real estate development and historic preservation for the project. 

“It’s really important for me that people know that we’re not just facilitating conversations. We are working and collaborating alongside these community members and translating that feedback into design,” the fourth-generation Oklahoman said. “We might not get direct consensus on every single detail and element of the project, but how do we pull themes out of what’s important that each of these sites includes in the future revitalization and future operations of each site?” 

Melissa Jest, senior manager of preservation projects for the Action Fund, said the organization plans to follow up with OCURA to provide additional funding sources and suggestions for a sustainable organizational structure that allows community members to become stakeholders. The organization’s sister entity, the National Trust Community Investment Corporation, has been asked to use its expertise to provide “information on capital stacking, innovative financing, and other incentives that a city might be eligible for,” she said.

Jest said there’s no set timeline on when this work will be completed. Ultimately, she said, preservation work moves “at the speed of trust.”

“We also want OCURA and [Oklahoma City] to come to understand and feel comfortable with their commitment to these properties and to ask as many questions as they possibly can,” she said. “Similar to the community, we want the OCURA board and staff to really get it [and] really grasp it. So when they start really implementing [and], as they say, [drinking] the Kool-Aid, they really understand the benefit. Not just the number crunching, but the healing part of the city they all live in.”

The post Tapping Communities to Reimagine Historic Spaces appeared first on Capital B News.

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