Remember that the unveiling tonight doesn’t conclude the project…it’s only the beginning, really. Our committee is doing interviews with people involved in the transformation of OKC, as well as those who witnessed Oklahoma City’s history. We’re mining the I.M. Pei archives for OKC-related material, and I’m personally going to research some of his archival material at the Library of Congress this summer. Our group is also reviewing plans to create an exhibit conveying the history of OKC via maps, blue prints (we have the Ramsey Tower blue prints at OHS!), photos, etc., to provide an educational context for the model.

And finally, to give some more dimension to what you’re about to see tonight, please take a look at the interactive map of pre-urban renewal Oklahoma City HERE. I created the map with our OHS web master Jennifer Towry. Also be sure to review the bibliography for some of my favorite resources on the history of OKC. Thanks Jennifer, for putting up with all of my visions and revisions!

I did the research for the map while scanning photos taken by Z.P. Meyers in the Hillerman collection. As a side note, the Hillerman Collection is comprised mostly of commercial images taken by Z.P. Meyers of Meyers Photo Shop (formerly at 325 N. Robinson in downtown OKC). Here’s some more about the collection.

The unveiling is in four days, and things are moving forward smoothly (oh, no…did I just jinx us??) We moved to Cox on Monday and some minor assembly work continues on the base and bubble attachment. Before the cover was attached, Bob Ross brought his father Bill, as well as Hugh and Andrew Roff (all directors of the Inasmuch Foundation) to view the model.

Other than that, Hans, Steve and I have been giving interviews to media and the rest of the team has been spreading the word about the project and its importance. Be sure to pick up a gazette this week…Luke Atkinson did a great story about us on page 11. My Mom’s so proud, she picked up half a dozen to distribute to her friends. Thanks, Mom!

Throughout this process themes from a book I read last year emerge. It’s called Outside Lies Magic: Regaining History and Awareness in Everyday Places by John Stilgoe. I like it because it promotes awareness of our community, and encourages us to pay attention to the layers of history that reside in our outdoor environment. (Check it out on Amazon)

Here’s a line from the amazon.com review: “Though more interested in showing us how to see than telling us what there is to see, his descriptions of power-line right-of-ways, alley-side entrances, and hobo jungles provide compelling incentive for the reader to take his advice to heart and start looking around and asking questions of the community.”

Please keep checking on the web site for new stuff!

Someone asked me why the Pei Project is important, and I think it’s because the art and architecture of a community are a part of it’s cultural DNA. Think about the many things that make a city unique…the history is a part of that. History expressed through a timeline of architecture, retail, social events, parades and celebrations, vehicles, art, film, photographs, streets, neighborhoods, even my home I’m sitting in now.

I think that what makes these historic relics mean so much to my generation is that they give dimension to our experiences today. They help us make sense of the community around us, and part of the way we define our personal and social identities is by the community we live in. I feel that the way we’re trying to define the community at this point is by preserving the past. There’s a feeling in the pits our stomachs when we learn how these old beautiful buildings that defined OKC in the past were demolished. We don’t understand how anyone could demolish our art, our history. How can you take that away when my identity’s rooted in it? When the identity of OKC is rooted in its history, art and architecture?

At the same time, we revere Pei’s model as sacred. Just like our historic structures, it’s a relic that defines where we are now. It helps us see our city as a palimpsest that captures past and present in the same moment.

My generation knows that our history is integral to our understanding of our present experience, and informs how to proceed in our future. When my generation becomes the oldest, I want to have the stuff around that I treasured back in the day to make a physical bridge between me and the younger generations. Because I know that there will be young people like me who want to know where we came from.

Jeremy Gardner showed plans for the new steel base being built for the model, while the entire group discussed how best to create a new belt to attach the bubble to the model.

Dub Brunsteter is progressing in his effort to clean and repair the model. Award-winning filmmaker Bunee Tomlinson joined with Justin Tyler Moore in planning for a documentary about the Pei Plan and the effort to put the model back on display.
Watch the 10 p.m. KWTV news tonight to see the latest on the Pei Plan project.

Dub has extensive experience working with architectural models, including one that was commissioned to look at improvements to the State Capitol. He has been working on cleaning the model this week. Rob, Dub and I moved the flats over 2×4s and sawhorses and climbed underneath to view the lighting. It’s an interesting system created specifically for that model (that’s how i understood it, anyway…I’m no where near being able to explain lighting systems). I took a couple of photos to give you an idea of what it looks like under there. They tried to plug it in, but it doesn’t work. The verdict isn’t in yet as to whether the lighting can be fixed, replaced with an alternate light source, or simply left alone.

Tomorrow morning Bill Welge, Chad Williams and I are taking the clear cover (“the bubble,” as we call it), out to Regal Plastic on Reno so they can advise on how to buff out the scratches or if we should try to have a new one made.