Some Pushing Change To Tulsa Club Building

For 14 years, the Tulsa Club building has been closed and crumbling. On Friday, the city will ask the mayor to take action against the owner for code violations and unpaid fines. News On 6's Steve Berg reports the building is vacant if you don't count the transients and the graffiti artists.

Supporters of the building hope it can be saved.

Tulsa Foundation for Architecture Director Lee Anne Zeigler says the Tulsa Club deserves a better fate.

"We call this in the trade a demolition by neglect," said Lee Anne Zeigler, Tulsa Foundation for Architecture Director.

Since it closed in 1994, the building has progressed from icon to eyesore, looking especially shabby over the past couple of years when graffiti started accumulating.

Fines have also been piling up against the owner, Carl Morony of California. He now owes more in penalties than what he reportedly paid for the building. The city's code enforcement will now ask permission to take their case to district court. If Morony doesn't respond, the building might then be sold at auction.

"If the judge rules in our favor, then we'll have a judgment. If he doesn't satisfy that judgment, then it is possible that we can attach that lien to the property and then go through another process in order to have the property sold to satisfy those liens," said Harold Adair with the City of Tulsa.

"I'm very happy that the City of Tulsa has taken this into their very capable hands, and hopefully it will be returned to the citizens of Tulsa," said Zeigler.

Designed by architect Bruce Goff, the same art deco whiz behind Boston Avenue Church, the Tulsa Club would likely have many prospective buyers says Zeigler. Zeigler says it would be a natural for lofts and other mixed-use.

"It's not just another vacant building. It's really a Tulsa icon and a landmark as well," said Zeigler.

Even though it gets started on Friday, the process could take months to make its way through the courts.