The Price Tower

I don't give a flying hoot (apologies to Hoot) about the UN, and most "heritage" or "historic" designations just make it hard for property owners to modify their own property; therefore, nomination as a UN World Heritage Site of the local oddity called the Price Tower doesn't get me real excited. It's already got other historic designations.

But it does give me a chance to link to some videos about the Price Tower and talk about it. It's about four years younger than I am, so it was new and a big deal when I was a kid. Still a landmark in the old home burb. Can't miss it. My grade school was just across the street from it, before they destroyed that venerable educational edifice to build an obscenity called the Communist Community Center. Do I digress?

Oklahoma Stories: Frank Lloyd Wright's Only Skyscraper, Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma by OETA (Edu. TV) is a good look at its history. They don't mention that this "skyscraper" was originally intended for Chicago, and was scaled down considerably for Mr. Price's commission. So I always heard.

Here's some guy's walk-through of his room in the Price Tower Inn (not much walking involved), with views overlooking downtown Bottlesburg. My favorite bit of the narrative: "Lots of churches around here." Yes. Or as Frank Zappa sang, "churches… churches… and liquor stores! Do I digress?

There's a spacious first-floor exhibit area. I was only inside the tower part once; went to somebody's office for some reason, must've been pre-high school. As a wanna-be architect once upon a time, I found the building fascinating. The whole place is designed on 30-60-90 triangles (as was explained to us one day by the Principal of the Jr HS, when subbing for our Latin teacher), and that's echoed in the floor tiles and such. I'd always heard Wright's buildings were small — low doorways and such — because he was short. Don't know about that, but I'd believe the whole thing was done on something less than full scale after I rode up in the smallest elevator I've ever been in. Claustrophobia is one of my kryptonites. Never needed to go back.