The historic Donnay Building in Oklahoma City is almost entirely being rebuilt after its new owners decided its piecework, Frankenstein-like construction wasn’t worth salvaging.
The Oklahoman newspaper reports developer Nick Preftakes and partner Caleb Hill, after purchasing the property for $1.5 million, decided to gut the interior after assessing its long-ago additions, repairs and fire damage.
But all is not lost:
A new building incorporating salvaged north and south facades and designed to reflect the look and feel of the original landmark is now taking shape with the new steel structure.
“We finally got the onion peeled back to know what we have,” Preftakes said. “We had to get steel designed and fabricated. We will have floors going in. We will start pouring slabs. The facade will start coming together. And you’ll be able to see what it looks like by year end.”
The Donnay Building was unlike any other in the city, consisting of oddly shaped outcrops of restaurant, bar, shop and apartment space, all defying modern code requirements and in serious need of repairs. Research by late preservationist Lynne Rostochil indicates it was built in phases between 1948 and 1954. […]
Though much of the building will consist of new construction, the overall vibe and look will closely reflect the oddity that stood for decades, Preftakes said.
The building encountered a more serious threat in 2018 when the Braum’s Ice Cream & Dairy Stores wanted to demolish it to make way for a store there. But protests from the neighborhood and preservationists scuttled that.
The reborn Donnay Building is slated to be finished sometime in 2025.
The HiLo Club has been in the building since the mid-1950s and eventually became one of the city’s key LGBTQ bars during the 1980s.
The Donnay Building sits on Classen Circle and NW 50th Street. According to Jim Ross’ “Oklahoma Route 66” book, Classen Circle was a 1950s alignment of Route 66.
Current-day Oklahoma Highway 66, overlaid onto Interstate 44, also sits nearby.
(Image of Donnay Building in Oklahoma City in 2009 by Matthew Rutledge via Flickr)