We’re on top of the world! Actually, the World is on top of us – literally. I’m flattered to notice that my next-door-neighbors and I share the background on the Tulsa World’s Broken Arrow web page. (You can click on the image for a slightly larger view, or visit the World’s webpage…)
Their logo runs right through the image of the bookshop’s storefront awning, partially obscuring the Books & Bistro lettering. (I can squint and make it out…) The sign for Star Jewelers is clearly visible, as is awning of Glamour Gowns & More and their slightly smaller lettering. I discovered the image after clicking on a link to a World review by restaurant critic Scott Cherry after he visited the newly opened Bruhouse Grill. I can attest to the fact that Mr. Cherry’s reviews can bring a crowd of dining guests, and I’ll be happy to see the additional traffic in the Rose District at the tail-end of the the street construction project.
The original photograph serving as the banner image is a credit to the remodeling efforts of the Broken Arrow couple behind four restored vintage BA storefronts. The construction work – some of which is still being completed – is much more than a cosmetic facelift. Many of the Rose District structures date back to statehood, and a number are “grandfathered in” where the building codes are concerned.
It is an expensive proposition to bring the wiring and plumbing of an old structure up-to-date. Those are things that –for the most part – aren’t even visible while walking into the store. Two of the three buildings at the far left in the image have not only been brought up to current building codes, but have had extensive structural reinforcement and cosmetic exterior updating.
What it boils down to: the buildings are better, much better, than they were brand new. Thermal glass. Inner wall insulation. Safety features.
They are buildings that not only LOOK good. They ARE good buildings.
There are two other buildings in the couple’s ownership that do not appear on the Tulsa World webpage, but they are equally sound, and beautiful residents of the Rose District community. As a history fanatic who grew up in towns much smaller than Broken Arrow (at least, smaller than BA has become in recent years), it pained me immensely to see local landmarks razed to make way for concrete parking lots.
Remodeling work on two downtown BA buildings had to be halted last fall, over concerns that the activity might bring the walls down on top of the workers. It was a case of too little, too late. The structures were in such a state of disrepair that they could not safely be brought back to life. Thankfully, the building housing the bookshop and the other storefronts in the ownership family have been given the kind of attention that will carry them forward for another one-hundred years.
Ask the planners. The heart of any city or town is the center of the original community. What we always called “downtown.” Whether it consists of a grid of skyscrapers like Tulsa or a single block of connected buildings like so many small Oklahoma towns, the original business district is vital – for a number of reasons.
When I first explored the idea of locating a bookstore in Broken Arrow (rather than Owasso, my original destination), I wanted to be “Downtown.” I wanted it to be the Main Street Bookstore. We landed on Main – just not Downtown.
How much sweeter it is!
We’re on top of the World! (Except, on their webpage, where the World is on top of us…)
Come visit!
McHuston
Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main, Broken Arrow, OK!
