The Oklahoma Route 66 Association is moving from its longtime base in Chandler into the Renaissance Square Event Center at 2620 E. 11th St. (aka Route 66) in Tulsa.
The association will hold an open house at its new home from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 23. Local author Michael Wallis will be there to sign copies of his seminal book “Route 66: The Mother Road” and Terry Moore’s “66 on 66,” for which he wrote the forward.
The Oklahoma Route 66 Association had been in the Chandler Public Library, then in the Route 66 Interpretive Center in Chandler, before longtime executive director Marilyn Emde retired.
Association President Rhys Martin explained what prompted the move in an email:
Ever since our former executive director stepped down in 2022, Association materials had been in storage. Last October, at our normal quarterly meeting, our board talked about establishing a new office. The owner of the Renaissance Square Event Center was in attendance and made us a terrific offer for a space right along Route 66.
Combined with the grant opportunities the City of Tulsa has along Route 66 and a strong volunteer base, our vote to move into this new space was an easy one.
The association’s latest quarterly newsletter gives some history behind the Renaissance Events Center:
Built in the late 1930s next to Max Campbell’s Casa Loma Hotel, the building originally served as a local factory for the Des Moines-based Dixie Popt Corn Company. Allen A. Sperling, operator, sold the French Fried Popt Corn in hundreds of locations throughout the region, including a shop in the Casa Loma building next door. The factory also made Zimzs Potato Chips.
In 1953, the building was expanded and renovated as the sales room and service garage for Karl Johnston’s Tulsa Nash Company. Later, it housed Shafer’s Tire and Appliance Center. In 1958 it became the new home of Ernest Wiemann Iron Works, which had been a Tulsa staple since 1940. Ernest owned and operated his custom forging business for a total of 57 years before selling it to Doug Bracken, who continued the operation in the same location.
It became the Renaissance Square Event Center in 2012 and continues to operate as such today as part of Tulsa’s vibrant Market District.
The Renaissance Square Event Center is between the Campbell Hotel and Flo’s Burger Diner.
(Excerpted image from Google Street View of the Renaissance Square Event Center in Tulsa)