The Mayo returns to early magnificence
The downtown Mayo Hotel has been restored to its art deco splendor.
By KIM BROWN World Scene Writer
Published: 11/7/2009 2:19 AM
Last Modified: 11/9/2009 2:46 PM
Correction: This story originally contained an error about an event. The story has been corrected.
span class="leadp">Decades have come and gone, and the Mayo Hotel has stood silently by.
Once a vibrant meeting place for Hollywood A-listers such as Clark Gable, Elvis Presley and Oklahoma's own Will Rogers, the Mayo Hotel, 115 W. Fifth St., has been empty for almost 30 years.
But after its $40 million restoration, the historic hotel has many glittering days and nights ahead of it. The Mayo Hotel finally has its sheen back thanks to the work of many local collaborators.
The official grand opening is in December, but the hotel has been quietly open for business since mid-September, when it welcomed the Britney Spears "Circus" tour entourage.
In 2001, the Snyder family purchased for $250,000 the property, which included nearly $5 million in Vision 2025 funds to restore the upper floors into hotel rooms and loft apartments.
"We used as many local firms and businesses as possible," said Macy Snyder, Mayo sales manager. "Especially in a bad economy, we felt it would do a lot for local businesses."
Staying power
Visitors are treated to history, even before they arrive at their rooms.
"These are the original elevator doors," Snyder said on a recent hotel tour. "They have the original (Mayo) logo, and it's throughout the building. We made sure the elevator doors were restored back to what they would have looked like in the '20s."
In addition
to the Vision 2025 funds, the Mayo also applied for and received federal tax credits for the hotel's restoration through the National Park Service.
"They help give you a bunch of options for what builders in the '20s would have used, like the carpets, light fixtures, wall colors, corridors," Snyder said.
The 102 hotel rooms and 76 lofts were designed by local firm Phillips Slaughter Rose. They feature neutral colors, bamboo floors and a more contemporary style.
"The hotel rooms are definitely more modern. We have wood floors, which you almost never see in a hotel room. We have a lot of angled walls to kind of bring in the look of the BOK Center," Snyder said. "In the hotel rooms, you see a lot of metal and brushed nickel with a lot of blacks and browns mixed."
The neutral feel is offset by the photographs on the walls all through the hotel. They bring in the color.
Bright ideas
The hotel's light fixtures and chandeliers, including the original lobby chandelier, were restored by Tulsa's Temco Electric Co.
Temco President Monty Pugh and his wife, LeAnn Baser Pugh, refinished, rewired, hand-strung and reassembled the lobby chandelier as well as the four massive chandeliers in the Crystal Ballroom on the 16th floor. They used a photograph taken in 1935 from the Tulsa Historical Society for reference.
"The big (lobby) chandelier, when you first walk in, that was the first I'd ever restored," Baser Pugh said. "It has cut, beveled glass and we had to take it all off and put it all back together again. It's been quite the learning experience."
Monty Pugh said the chandeliers in the Crystal Ballroom were "pretty much wrecked."
"They had 80-year-old tarnish under lacquer. We had to take them completely apart and boil all the pieces in phosphoric acid to get them clean. Then we re-lacquered them and put them all together."
After eight months and hundreds of hours of work, including weeks of intricate hand beading, the grand chandeliers were finally hanging in the ballroom again.
"I cried, I did," said Baser Pugh. "I was so proud of them. They were just beautiful."
Finishing touches
The lobby, which was designed by Dallas firm Duncan and Miller, features black and off-white circular couches and accents of pinks and oranges in the other furniture and textiles, all meant to add a modern touch to the historic hotel.
The penthouse has a lounge area and a bar, designed by Hawley and Co. With deep red accents, wood furniture, and hand-carved bar stools by artist Neil Gore, its art deco feel is all around.
"Our goal was to get a real club atmosphere," said Christine Booth, co-owner of Hawley and Co.
The drapes throughout the building, made of fabric from Tulsa's Fabricut Inc., seem to stretch for miles.
"I really admire the Snyders' entrepreneurial spirit and the work they've done on the place," said Fabricut CEO David Finer.
Using the past to keep the Mayo Hotel current is a theme that seems to be working.
"We truly felt that what we have is what makes this project really unique," Snyder said.
Kim Brown 581-8474
kim.brown@tulsaworld.com
By KIM BROWN World Scene Writer
