News On 6 Reporter Rick Wells Dives Into Tulsa's Past

Sometime around the end of the year we will be moving into our new building in Tulsa's downtown Brady District. Among the things that must move with us is our video library, more than 30,000 tapes.

We've been told that's too many tapes, there's not enough room at the new place. So, we're taking inventory, deciding what to keep and what not to.

KOTV's been in the building at 3rd and Elgin since 1949. We've been using video tape since the 70s.

Every nook and cranny of the old building is stuffed with… stuff. Managing Editor Stephanie Hill and Chief Video Editor Pam Long are charged with un-stuffing.

The two wear rubber gloves, dust masks and booties as they sift through racks of tapes.

How do they decide what to keep?

"If it's famous people, if it's a famous location, a big crime. Things like that," Stephanie Hill said.

The job's pretty labor intensive for these disciples of the dusty archives, and they're at the mercy of aging penmanship.

The inventory will take most of the year. There are some wonderful bits of Tulsa history contained on those tapes.

Throughout the year, we'll feature some of that historic video on the news and NewsOn6.com.

02/06/2012:  Related Story: From The KOTV Vault: 84-Cent Gas Had Tulsa Drivers Worried In 1979

02/10/2012:  Related Story: From The KOTV Vault: 'Shorts Day' Flops On Tulsa's Brookside