THE WAY WE WERE
A peek into Tulsa’s past
Courtesy Beryl Ford Collection/Rotary Club of Tulsa, Tulsa City-County Library and Tulsa Historical Society
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School spirit
by BROOKE THOMAS
Evan Taylor
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The vacant building at 118 E. 18th St. was formerly home to the swanky Louisiane restaurant, which served seafood, steak and gumbo from the 1930s to the early ‘90s. Business owners in the area hope the property will be redeveloped as another restaurant concept or retail space.
Elegant to empty A building in Tulsa’s ‘SoBo’ district was a landmark restaurant. by BRIA BOLTON MOORE
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nce upon a time, 118 E. 18th St. was a dining destination — and a swanky one at that. “Historically, what everybody remembers it as — anybody who’s lived in Tulsa for a length of time — is the Louisiane,” says Patrick Fox of Fox+Allen Realty, broker for the property’s redevelopment. “It was the place you would take your client if you wanted to show them a nice time in town or your sweetie if you were going on a date.” The two-story red brick building with black awnings has about 9,000 square feet of vacant space, but for approximately 50 years, the sounds of live music and the smells of steak, lobster and Creole gumbo filled the dining room. Pat McMurchy, who moved to Tulsa in 1984 to be the Louisiane’s general manager, remembers the days when he couldn’t get orders of blackened redfish off the grill fast enough for hungry patrons of the popular spot. The Louisiane enjoyed a long run, opening in the mid-1930s (when a T-bone steak was just $1.25), closing in 1983 and reopening a year later when McMurchy helped a friend, Bob Allred, bring it back to life. McMurchy left in ’87 to open The Bros. Houligan, which he still owns with his brother, Tim. The Louisiane changed hands a couple of times and closed in the early ’90s. Afterward, the building was home to bars and restaurants called The Brick, Tulsa Brick Yard and Pour House, but many Tulsans are hoping for a new type of tenant.
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Phoenix Cleaners sits down the street at 125 E. 18th St. The business has been in owner Todd Robinson’s family for more than 100 years and has operated on East 18th Street since the late 1930s or early ‘40s. “I was born and raised right there in that neighborhood,” Robinson says of the East 18th Street and South Boston Avenue area. “I’ve seen it go from good to bad to better, and it’s really nice right now.” He says he’d like another locally owned restaurant or retail space to take the reins of the former Louisiane location. “I’d love to see one of those places go in that when you enter, the building is still there but it’s revamped, kind of like The Rusty Crane or one of Blake Ewing’s restaurants,” he says. Fox says his organization’s vision is to redevelop the property and to “have something there that is a legacy” to the city and neighborhood. “It’s a unique part of Tulsa in that it’s sort of a neighborhood center,” Fox says of the South Boston district, often called “SoBo,” where anchor businesses include DoubleShot Coffee Co., Mercury Lounge, Dalesandro’s and Burn Co. “It’s an area that serves the surrounding neighborhood and has the potential to be a place that — if you live in Maple Ridge or you’re coming along the Midland Valley Trail — can be a walkable area and one of those things that makes the city cool and unique,” he says. “I think the building is really well positioned to see a true revival.” tþ
he Will Rogers All Sport Booster Club bestowed a time-honored tradition on the next generation of student athletes. Earlier this year, club members presented letterman jackets to Will Rogers High School upperclassmen, who were selected by their coaches, during halftime of the varsity basketball game against Tulsa Memorial. Unlike most schools at which letterman jackets must be purchased, the only price for these student recipients was good grades and dedication to their respective sports. “The letterman jacket presentation was one of the top events and proud moments of the year for Will Rogers students, parents, alumni and faculty,” says booster club representative Johnnie Egbert. “We want these current students to have the same opportunities that we had, and that sometimes is difficult in today’s world. We are just proud to support our school in any way.”
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letterman jacket event. “The Booster Club agrees the event is a Will Rogers Roper tradition, and we hope that’s a motivating factor in the future,” Egbert says.
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student athletes at Will Rogers High School received letterman jackets.
$4,000
worth of jackets were donated to the junior and senior athletes who lettered.
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sports were represented by students who received jackets: football, basketball, baseball, wrestling and volleyball.
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alumni donated to the cause. Players on the 1965 football team at Rogers started the Will Rogers All Sports Booster Club. Some of the club’s members played sports as early as 1949. For more information about the Will Rogers All Sports Booster Club, call 918-6989878 or email chris@vandenhende.org. tþ