First Residents Move Into Tulsa's Mayo Hotel

By Tara Vreeland, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- The Mayo Hotel officially has its first residents Saturday. The massive renovation is nearing completion but despite the ongoing construction, the apartments are ready.

"We do have people moving in today for the first time. We had two moving trucks come in with their furniture," said Paul Rose, the construction manager.

As moving days go, the people moving into the building located at 5th and Boston in downtown Tulsa were too busy to talk with The News On 6.

First two people, by next week 10 residents and in two weeks, 20 people will call the Mayo home.

"No one has been legally able to occupy in this building for a very, very long time, so this is probably the first step for the building to really come back. We actually have real live people that get to live in the Mayo Hotel," said Rose.

But pardon the dust.

"I hope (the residents) have pioneer spirit because we still do have work going on," said Rose.

The richly hued carpet featuring the Mayo logo is out and glittering chandeliers illuminate the hallways, bringing life and warmth to a grand hotel that stood vacant and hollow for so long.

"It's not a ghost hotel anymore," said Rose.

Paul Rose says workers are feeling the deadline crunch. The first hotel guests are scheduled for September 15th.

But he says he's more than pleased with the project's progress and that the revitalization of the Mayo Hotel is turning out better than he ever dreamed.

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