The Center of the Universe, a spot on a bridge in downtown Tulsa that creates an audio anomaly to anyone who stands on it, soon will undergo repairs and is seeking public input on how to do it.
Brian Kurtz, president and CEO of the Downtown Tulsa Partnership, has been working on a plan for about two years to renovate the increasingly ramshackle oddity on the Boston Avenue pedestrian bridge, yet maintain the mysterious echo effect.
The Tulsa World reported:
DTP launched a website Friday to gather the community’s thoughts on how to enhance the popular destination. It’s the first step in a public-engagement process intended to guide the nonprofit and the city as they embark on an estimated $7.6 million overhaul of the bridge. […]
Mayor G.T. Bynum on Friday encouraged Tulsans to offer their thoughts on the project.
“The Center of the Universe has become a Tulsa landmark over the years, and improvements are on the way to renovate this downtown destination,” Bynum said. “As we work through the process of renovating the Center of the Universe, it’s important we hear from residents on what kind of space we want to leave for the next generation.”
The public-private partnership is called Reimagining the Center of the Universe, and the website is downtowntulsaok.com/recentertheuniverse.
Kurtz said one thing that keeps him up at night is the echo effect at the site may not survive the renovation. Most scientists believe it’s some sort of parabolic sound effect between several buildings and skyscrapers in the area. He said he would work with sound engineers and contractors to determine the best attempt to preserve the phenomenon.
Regardless, a study determined the pedestrian bridge itself needs about $4 million in structural repairs. The Center of the Universe repairs are budgeted at $3.25 million, but that number is fluid because of the unknowns on how to preserve the effect. Work is tentatively slated to begin in late 2022 or early 2023.
Kurtz said basic improvements to the site will include new pavement, new pathways, enhanced lighting and landscaping and enhanced public art. A few pavers in the Center’s circle are missing, and a few makeshift repairs have been done with asphalt.
Atlas Obscura described the Center of the Universe’s effect:
If you stand in the middle of the circle and make a noise, the sound is echoed back several times louder than it was made. It’s your own private amplified echo chamber.
As the legend goes, a foghorn could be going off in the center of the circle and those on the outside wouldn’t hear it. This may be an exaggeration, but your voice does sound extremely distorted when heard from outside the circle. It’s an incredible effect.
According to Tulsa People, the Center of the Universe effect began nearly 40 years ago:
By the 1980s this bridge suffered some fire damage; with its reconstruction in 1983 was birthed the Center of the Universe. John Laur, a contributing architect of the reconstruction formerly of Urban Design Group, told the Tulsa World in 1997 that the peculiar brick pattern “was intended as a metaphor, and was a physical link between the north and south sides of town.”
Perhaps the most compelling factor behind the curiosity is that its defining feature was unintentional. The circular convergence of Laur’s design feels intended to serendipitously draw visitors into the center of the anomaly, but that’s apparently not the case. That’s to say, when Tulsans realized they could whisper in their own ear at an unassuming pedestrian bridge downtown, so did the architects.
The Center of the Universe is on the north side of the bridge between First and Archer streets. The oddity, just a few blocks from the original alignment of the Mother Road, remains a popular side trip for Route 66 travelers. The annual Route 66 Marathon even has used it as a quick detour on one of its racecourses.
(Image of the Center of the Universe in Tulsa in 2008 by jill, jellidonut…. whatever via Flickr)