BOK Center, Location: Tulsa OK, Architect: Pelli Clarke Pelli

For this blog I will discuss the importance of the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK to me. The BOK Center was opened in late August of 2008 and has been one of Tulsa’s most well known buildings in Tulsa since.

I was born and raised in Tulsa and was about 10 when I first heard about the construction of this building. Ever since the initial designs were shown to the public, it made me very excited to go see a concert or sporting event here and see what all the hype was about. One big reason I was ready to see this building finished was because it would be the new home of the Tulsa Oilers. Before this was constructed, the Oilers played in Tulsa convention center, which was outdated and too small for big events. My family and I would go see Oilers’ games about once a month and enjoyed it very much. Once we heard about a new facility being constructed for bigger events and to be the home of the Tulsa Oilers, we were ecstatic. Not only is the facility much bigger than the convention center, it was much cleaner and nicer. This meant that concerts and events could be held here that never could be held at the convention center.

The first event I went to see at the BOK was a concert by Fleetwood Mac, and I was not dissappointed, by the building or the concert. Ever since I have loved going there and took every oppurtunity I could to go to an event in the BOK Center, including to see the Oilers. It was and still is huge for publicity in Tulsa and helped revitalize the surrounding downtown area. This coupled with the Oneok baseball stadium that was constructed in later years has had major impacts on the revival of downtown Tulsa, which was continuously deteriorating and driving people to south Tulsa and to surrounding suburbs.