History
The Tulsa PAC opened March 19, 1977, and was built with a combination of public and private funds. Minoru Yamasaki (who designed the former World Trade Center Towers) was the architect for the project. The Center is owned and operated by the City of Tulsa and guided by the TPAC Trust, of which the Mayor of Tulsa is a member.
The forerunner of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center was the Tulsa Municipal Theatre, now known as the Brady Theatre. When, in the early 1970s, it was determined that a new, updated theatre was needed, the Theatre Advisory Committee, headed by Charles E. Norman, was formed. Many different scenarios were studied, including the restoration of the Tulsa Municipal Theatre (built in 1914), and the Akdar Shrine theatre (vintage 1925). The committee became aware that John H. Williams, president of The Williams Companies, had purchased a nine-block area of land that he intended to develop. Williams’ original plan was to build a new headquarters for his company, which would consist of two 30-story buildings flanking Boston Avenue at 3rd Street. The scheme was reconfigured to make Williams’ headquarters one tall tower instead of two smaller buildings, and locate it in the middle of Boston Avenue at Second Street. The land between 2nd and 3rd Streets on Cincinnati, occupied by a vacant Hotel Tulsa, was then made available and was given to the City by Williams for a performing arts venue. In May 1973, Williams and community philanthropist Leta Chapman made an offer to the citizens of Tulsa: If Tulsa citizens would vote to fund half of a performing arts center, Williams and Chapman would raise the other half. A bond campaign was launched, giving the proposed PAC the slogan “Everyone’s Place.” The bond election, held in August 1973, was passed by 69%. The new Tulsa PAC was funded at $14 million.
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