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(February 2011) posted on Fri Feb 04, 2011

Superior Neon reinvigorates an Oklahoma City landmark.

By Jim Gleason

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In the summer of 1937, Oklahoma City was buzzing with talk of the opening of the Tower Theater on 23rd and Walker St. downtown. W. Scott Dunne, a Dallas architect, devised the building, and Super Sleuth, which starred Jack Oakie and Anne Sothern, was its first feature. Although it wasn’t the city’s first movie house, it was celebrated for its unique architecture, lighting and then-novel air conditioning, which was trumped in the Daily Oklahoman as “scientific refrigeration”.

For more than two decades, the Tower flourished. However, as population shifted to the suburbs, it lost many customers. During the early 1960s, the Cooper Foundation, which owned the Tower, shut it down. Two ownership groups subsequently operated the theater – including a successful renovation after a January 1967 fire -- but the Tower’s popularity gradually declined, and its stint as a first-run movie house ended during the mid-1980s.

Eventually, local citizens began working to preserve the theatre. Its iconic sign -- a diagonal blade sign with neon-bordered, 3-D, closed-face, neon-lit, porcelain cans that spell out “Tower” and descend into the marquee – had fallen into disrepair. One side of the marquee was severely crumpled, and served as a compelling reminder of the once-proud property’s decline.

In 2009, owner Marty Dillon and advisor Greg Banta spearheaded renovations on the property. They planned to repurpose the property as a mixed-use facility with office, retail and restaurant space, but they wanted the Tower sign and its legacy to serve as a testament to the property’s history.

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Setting the stage
Dillon initially contacted me about restoring its signage. Because 23rd St. had been widened, the marquee’s front had become exposed to tall trucks and had been damaged. Also, parking spots had recently been created in front of the marquee.

At the time, he’d just purchased the building. I’d twice before bid on making repairs to the sign. With each visit, the site looked worse. The front was completely destroyed, and the side pieces were barely recognizable. The sign had also become home to many winged residents. Ultimately, Marty accepted my bid, which included restoration of the exterior, and repair and restoration of neon and other lighting.

Because the theater is located on Route 66, Marty submitted an application to the Route 66 Corridor Preservations Program for a restoration grant, a cost-share proposal that has previously helped restore other signs.