May 25, 2003 - OKLAHOMA CITY--Five years ago, state Historical Society chief Bob Blackburn feared that Oklahoma was on the verge of losing its last two statehood-era, big-city grand hotels. 

Tulsa's Mayo Hotel and Oklahoma City's Skirvin Hotel, both on the National Register of Historic Places, closed in the 1980s, victims of changing travel patterns, urban redevelopment and politics. 

"I would have said maybe 50-50 the buildings would survive," said Dr. Blackburn. "I thought the land might become more valuable than the bricks and mortar. 

"Now, we see a glimmer of hope for both." 

Recently, developers spent about $1.5 million to restore the Mayo's Grand Lobby and underground parking, the first steps in what state and local officials hope could be a full transformation of the 78-year-old, 600-suite hotel into loft-style downtown housing. 

And next month, Oklahoma City leaders are expected to select a developer to renovate and reopen the 93-year-old, 525-room Skirvin, a project that could cost as much as $42.1 million. 

In both cities, the goals are similar: preserve history and boost downtown redevelopment. But even more, the projects speak volumes about self-image, city pride and the civic psyche. Indeed, the hotels are viewed by local leaders as important civic symbols � just like the Peabody in Memphis, for example. 

To Jim Norton, president of Downtown Tulsa Unlimited Inc., the Mayo not only evokes Tulsa's past as the self-styled Oil Capital of the World, but also rekindles a shared civic memory, a sense of place born as host of high school proms, weddings and bar mitzvahs. 

"It's in everybody's psyche," he said. "It would mean a great deal to the city, and how we view ourselves, to have the hotel come back in some form." 

Likewise, the vacant and decaying Skirvin came to symbolize Oklahoma City's inability to revitalize its long-blighted downtown and its failure to mold a shared future vision or a progressive, can-do identity. 

As Downtown OKC Inc. executive director Devery Youngblood put it, the Skirvin was "in many ways our biggest embarrassment." 

Now, with five solid proposals for reviving the property � ranging from downtown housing to a full-service Hilton conference hotel � the Skirvin could emerge as a sort of crown jewel of 18 public and private city center projects in the works, valued at more than $230 million. 

"Far more than the economic impact [of a restored Skirvin] is what it says about our ability to solve our toughest problems," Mr. Youngblood said. "That beautiful old building has value to Oklahoma City far beyond brick and mortar. It's part of who we are. It's what's identified downtown and Oklahoma City in many ways." 

Now that it appears the two hotels will be saved, they seem destined to re-emerge in different forms. 

Oklahoma City leaders have expressed preference for the Skirvin to reopen, perhaps in early 2005, as a full-service, upscale hotel that could boost the city's convention business. 

Along with the eight-story Marriott Courtyard that's under construction adjacent the new 20,000-seat Ford Center, Oklahoma City's number of downtown hotel rooms would nearly double, from 700 now to about 1,200. 

In Tulsa, the Mayo's new owners � Charles Snyder Jr. and his three sons, Charles III, John and Jim � are focused on converting the hotel into downtown housing, citing studies that show Tulsa's 1,000 downtown hotel rooms are plenty, given the size of the current convention center. 

Mr. Snyder, a retired Air Force major who lives in Maryland, said his family never has taken on a project quite like the Mayo. But son John, a construction company supervisor based in Tulsa, alerted the family to the potential bargain. The family, Mr. Snyder said, purchased the 18-story structure about 1 1/2 years ago for $250,000 � "the cost of a small house in Washington, D.C." 

The Mayo, closed in 1982 and stripped to its concrete and steel foundations, long served as the social and cultural heart of Tulsa. 

Named for its owners John and Cass Mayo, Missouri farmboys who moved to Tulsa in search of their fortune, the hotel � Tulsa's first skyscraper � was designed as a replica of New York's opulent Plaza Hotel. 

Mr. Snyder said he thinks it could take as many as 10 years to give the Mayo a complete makeover. The Grand Lobby � with its green-and-white marble floor, Doric columns of polished limestone and twinkling chandeliers � is on pace, he said, to book about 75 major events annually. One of the first was an inaugural ball in January honoring new Gov. Brad Henry. 

"This hotel is the perfect place to have this event � it literally rose out of the ashes," said Mr. Henry, a little-known state senator who upset Republican nominee and pro football Hall of Famer Steve Largent to win the governor's office. "It's also symbolic of my campaign, which rose out of nowhere. And it represents the future of our state and what I hope our administration can bring to Oklahoma." 

Mr. Snyder said he is meeting with civic organizations that could help restore the Crystal Ballroom on the 17th and 18th floors. He also said retail is possible on the first floor, offices on the second. But he said he envisions much of the structure finished out with apartments that could rent for a premium because of the prestigious Mayo address. 

"The Mayo Hotel," he said, "is really something everybody loves." 

Long a fixture of the Oklahoma City skyline, the Skirvin closed in 1988, its interior mostly untouched for years, save for roosting pigeons. Named for its owner, land developer and oil magnate William Balser Skirvin, it opened to guests in September 1911 with 10 stories, two wings and 225 luxury rooms and suites. It later was expanded to 14 stories, three wings and 525 rooms. 

The Skirvin played a prominent role in the showdown over moving the state Capitol from Guthrie to Oklahoma City. Gov. 

Charles Haskell, a Democrat who was feuding with the Republican publisher of a Guthrie newspaper, successfully promoted a statewide referendum ordering the move. Rather than waiting for a transition expected to take several months, Mr. 

Haskell ordered the state seal and other key documents slipped out of Guthrie on the night of the election and moved to Oklahoma City. 

The next morning, the new Capitol was operating temporarily in the Huckins Hotel, where Democrats established a base. 

Republicans set up shop in the Skirvin. The Huckins was torn down during 1960s urban renewal. 

In their glory days, the Skirvin and Mayo were favored by the state's rich and famous, as well as by well-heeled, well-known visitors from out of state. 

At the Mayo, oilman J. Paul Getty lived for years in Room 816. 

It guest registry included the likes of Elvis Presley and Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe and Gene Autry. At the Skirvin, former Gov. Roy Turner took up residence after he left office in 1951. So did Mr. Skirvin's daughter, Pearl Mesta, who became famous as Washington's most renowned hostess. Several U.S. presidents stayed the night at the Skirvin. 

"They both represent the golden age of railroad travel, when people went to stay downtown near the train depot," said Dr. Blackburn, the historical society's executive director. "So much of the memory of life of the community was wrapped up in them. They were the social and business center of the community." 

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(c) 2003, The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.