Akdar Theatre

Click this web site for early 1920s construction view of AKDAR Theater;
http://mayhotel.com/modules/gallery/tulsafolders/MayoFolderCTCo1930Det01

Since I can never seem to enter web sites correctly the first time I'm just about to give up on suggesting them, oh well, try this corrected entry;
htp://mayohotel.com/modules/gallery/tulsafolders/MayoFolderCTCo1930Det01

1922 color postcard views;
http://mayohotel.com/modules/gallery/tulsafolders/MayoFolderCTCo1930Det01?full=1
and,
http://mayohotel.com/modules/gallery/tulsafolders?page=1

Vintage aerial views, in both images the Akdar Theatre can be seen photo lower left. Just above the Akdar can be seen the Rialto Theatre, and in the far distance other downtown theatres.
Once image downloads, click on photo again for a much larger view.
http://mayohotel.com/modules/gallery/skylines/MayoAerial1950s
http://mayohotel.com/modules/gallery/skylines/MayoAerial1951Large

Early day Akdar Theatre pictures can be seen on this link, BROWSE COLLECTION- pages 45, 46, 47, 260;
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/BFC/index.htm

Be advised that the Beryl Ford Photo Collection constantly change image numbers. This week Akdar images are 47,48,& 49. Tomorrow these numbers could be different, so you may want to just browse around a bit.

Look at the "Downtown Tulsa, 1929" image, lower right corner, to see an aerial view of the Akdar Theatre. Beryl Ford Photo Collection index is now listed in alphabetical order for easier navigation.

The correct image to view should be the one labled 'looking southeast at downtown tulsa, 1930,' currently on page 28.

While on Tulsa Public Library/BFC link be sure to check out the 1920 Central High School (not the 1905 Central High) images to see pictures of a mammoth 1927, Kilgen 4-manual, 45-rank pipe organ. When installed this was reputed to be one of the largest pipe organ ever built.
Below link also has recent images of this fine organ, along with the 1927, 3-manual Robert-Morton theatre pipe organ that originally was installed inside the Capitol Theatre, Steubenville, OH.
http://members.aol.com/SoonerStateATOS/

Various period exterior images -
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/A0111.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/A1715.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/A0240.jpg
After converstion to Cimmaron Ballroom soundboards covered over beautiful frescos, and sloped orchestra section was made level with a rock maple dance floor -
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B5940.jpg

Look at this unusual (photo right) angle of the Akdar Theatre, c1957,
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B0624.jpg

Long ago I once saw 1940s snapshots of the Akdar Ballroom, located in the basement of the Akdar Theatre Building. This image looks very much like that ballroom, and I am almost certain this is one of those pictures.
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D0704.jpg

Excellent c1950 shots of the Akdar auditorium after renovation into the Cimmaron Ballroom,
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D0650.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D0649.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D0648.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D0651.jpg

Shown below are 1954 shots of the Akdar after it had been made over into a popular ballroom. Clear detail of ornate plasterwork can be studied in these views.
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D1583.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B2821.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B2822.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B2824.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B2825.jpg

These two 1953 images of the Akdar lobby are from the Tulsa Library/Beryl Ford Collection.
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D1401.jpg
This New Year's Eve shot shows that the ceiling had been lowered covering over mezanine levels.
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B9638.jpg

In the bottom right hand corner of this picture can be seen the Akdar Theatre. This 1930 shot illustrates just how large the stagehouse actually was.
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/A0617.jpg

http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B5573.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/B5574.jpg
Akdar balcony theatre seats

Rapp & Rapp gave Chicago's (1931) Nortown Theatre the same multi-color "basket weave" pattern marble floor as they had installed inside the Akdar.

Oops! Thanks to CWChicago it has been pointed out that it was the NORSHORE I was refering to, not Nortown.
http://www.photoeye.com

Elaborate auditorium decoration can be studied in these scenes from a production that played the Akdar stage way back in 1952. . .
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D6893.jpg - http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D6897.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D6892.jpg - http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D6895.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/D6891.jpg - http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/C0130.jpg

Many downtown buildings, including the Akdar Theatre, came down to make way for a new Civic Center. At the time this complex was considered bold, inovative, and modernistic. These days it just looks like a relic of a bygone era. See for yourself,
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/G0642.jpg

Construction shot of the Akdar going up on the Western edge of downtown -
http://opac.tulsalibrary.org/search/tberyl+ford+collection/tberyl+ford+collection/1,1,18807,B/l856~b2143786&FF=tberyl+ford+collection&1432,,18807,1,0
A 1930 view illustrating how the theatre was twice as long as it was wide -
http://opac.tulsalibrary.org/search/tberyl+ford+collection/tberyl+ford+collection/1,1,18807,B/l856~b2143789&FF=tberyl+ford+collection&1433,,18807,1,0

This photo is entitled "Tulsa Schools, Theatres, and Eateries of the 1930's",
http://opac.tulsalibrary.org/search~S27?/tberyl+ford+collection/tberyl+ford+collection/1%2C1%2C23072%2CZ/l856&FF=tberyl+ford+collection&14902%2C%2C23072%2C1%2C0

http://schehrer2.homestead.com/Population.html
Tulsa had a population of only 72,000 in 1922, yet it had four first class theatres, the Akdar being one of them!

On this site Gene Kelly presents a tour of historic movie palaces -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5FZ6Ung6Ac