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The Old Lady of Brady
(Tulsa Convention Hall)
 105 West Brady Street
Tulsa, OK
Built in 1914
Information Provided by Tulsa Preservation Commission
"The Old Lady of Brady," as it gradually
came to be called, was billed as the largest hall between Kansas City and Houston. This convention hall accommodated Tulsa's first grand opera, the first International Petroleum
Exposition in 1923, and the flood of refugees from Tulsa's infamous Race Riot of 1921. The convention hall was built at a cost of $125,000. It is a four-story, barn-like building of steel,
masonry, and brick, measuring 130 x 160 feet over-all. Seating capacity was approximately 4,200 people, including 1,400 in the balcony. The stage was 70 feet wide and 40 feet deep with a
50 x 20 foot proscenium arch. Unusual features of the hall included a 13-foot forward slope to
the stage and jacks or "screws" that raised the floor at the back of the auditorium. Both were
designed to create better sightlines between theater performers and theater-goers. When completed, the Convention Hall was hailed as a magnificent building boasting the only municipal
pipe organ west of the Allegheny Mountains and paid for by popular subscription. This building was listed in the Register on August 29, 1979. It was listed under National Register
Criterion A, and its NRIS number is 79002028.
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