By his count, King Richard LéRoy has 1,613 used bowling balls. That’s 6,823 short of his goal.
His real name is Richard Branaman, but he prefers to be called King Richard LéRoy, or King Richard.
His dream is to build a tower on the traffic circle at the intersection of Admiral Boulevard and Mingo Road in east Tulsa using more than 8,000 balls. The World Peace Monument.
Right now he’s building the monument one ball at a time in the parking lot of Ashley’s Great American Flea Market, 9216 E. Admiral Place.
A few years ago someone crashed their car into it, sending the balls across the lot. They sat in a mess for a while, or in storage, but King Richard recently decided to complete the pyramid behind a chain link fence outside, and a smaller one inside the flea market.
He tries to get the bright, pretty balls on the outside. His favorites are the ones with a name etched in it. He likes the idea that the balls were once important to someone out there.
"They’re like precious stones," he says, "waiting to be made into a monument."
He’s got big ideas and big plans. He wants to start a recycling business. And install a bowling ball night drop in the chain link fence around the ball pyramid so people can drop off bowling balls when he isn’t there.
There could be a contest for local school kids. An art project, maybe. And there’s no doubt in his mind that one day, the tower with the bowling ball pyramid on top will stand on the traffic circle just a few yards down the road.
He sits in the shade in front of the flea market and looks at the pyramid. “I’m not gonna quit,” he says.
That night drop hasn’t been installed yet, so for now, you can take a ball out to the office at the flea market or call 918-902-2307. Or as King Richard says, you can come out to the flea market. “Just look for the guy with the crown.”
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King Richard LeRoy loads bowling balls into a shopping cart in an alley behind a flea market on his way to the World Peace Monument that he built in the parking lot on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
King Richard LeRoy pushes a shopping cart full of bowling balls on his way to the World Peace Monument that he built in the parking lot of a flea market in east Tulsa on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
The small version of the World Peace Monument that King Richard LeRoy has planned is now standing in the parking lot of Ashley's Great American Flea Market in east Tulsa. Built by King Richard, or Richard Branaman, a total of 1,613 balls make up the larger pyramid in the parking lot and a smaller one inside the flea market. Richard hopes to collect over 8,000 balls to complete his plan for a World Peace Monument on historic Route 66. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
King Richard LeRoy stacks bowling balls onto his World Peace Monument in the parking lot of a flea market in east Tulsa on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
The small version of the World Peace Monument that King Richard LeRoy has planned is now standing in the parking lot of Ashley's Great American Flea Market in east Tulsa. A total of 1,613 balls make up the larger pyramid in the parking lot and a smaller one inside the flea market. Richard hopes to collect over 8,000 balls to complete his plan for a World Peace Monument on historic Route 66. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
King Richard LeRoy sorts through used bowling balls as he rebuilds the World Peace Monument in the parking lot of Ashley's Great American Flea Market on East Admiral in Tulsa on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
King Richard LeRoy pushes a shopping cart full of bowling balls through an alley on his way to the World Peace Monument that he built in the parking lot of a flea market in east Tulsa on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
The small version of the World Peace Monument that King Richard LeRoy has planned is now standing in the parking lot of Ashley's Great American Flea Market in east Tulsa. Built by King Richard, or Richard Branaman, who hopes to collect over 8,000 balls to complete his plan for a World Peace Monument on historic Route 66. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
King Richard LeRoy takes a break as he pulls old bowling balls out of storage while rebuilding the World Peace Monument in the parking lot of a flea market in east Tulsa on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
King Richard LeRoy stacks bowling balls onto his World Peace Monument in the parking lot of a flea market in east Tulsa on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
King Richard LeRoy adjusts his hat while working in a storage shed outside Ashley's Great American Flea Market in east Tulsa on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. Richard's goal is to collect over 8,000 used bowling balls that he hopes to make into a permanent monument in the traffic circle at Mingo and Admiral. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
King Richard LeRoy's crown, a straw hat with a plastic crown, was given to him by a friend. Richard' is collecting bowling balls and building a World Peace Monument outside Ashley's Great American Flea Market in east Tulsa on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
