okc area +50 or so miles

Urban exploration in Oklahoma
rea1
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okc area +50 or so miles

Post by rea1 »

does any one know of good places around okc???
Last edited by rea1 on Wed Sep 28, 2005 12:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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RE: okc area

Post by rea1 »

Ive been told of an abanded insane asylum in Norman on elm street

Ive been told about an haunted house (i think it was "take Douglas street north till it makes you turn right go a half mile its on the left ) but i have yet to check it out

also no one to go with
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RE: okc area +50 or so miles

Post by holeeroler »

The Skirvin Hotel built in 1910 by oilman W.B. Skirvin, who was determined to have the finest hotel in the Southwest. Opening its doors in 1911, the plush hotel had two, 10-story towers containing 224 rooms, was one of the first buildings in Oklahoma City to have air conditioning, then called “iced air,� had running ice water in each room, a ballroom that seated 500, and imported Austrian chandeliers that cost more than $100,000 each.

Skirvin’s daughter, Perl Mesta, brought the hotel a national reputation by being the ambassadress to Luxembourg, and then Washington’s "Hostess with the Mostess," portrayed in the famed Broadway musical, "Call Me Madam."

In 1930, a third wing was added, raising the structure to 14 stories and increasing capacity to 525 rooms.

The Oklahoma showplace became a popular speak-easy during prohibition. It was during this time that W.B. Skirvin was said to have had an affair with one of the hotel maids. According to legend, the maid soon conceived and in order to prevent a scandal, she was locked in a room on the top floor of the hotel. The desolate girl soon grew depressed and even after the birth of her child; she was still not let out of the room. Half out of her mind, she finally grabbed the infant child and threw herself, along with the baby, out of the window.

The maid’s name remains unknown, but her ghost continues to haunt the Skirvin Hotel and she was nicknamed “Effie� by former employees.

Though the old hotel closed in 1988, former guests would often report not being able to obtain a decent nights sleep due to the consistent sounds of a child crying.

Effie was apparently a woman of loose morals and many men who have stayed in the hotel have often reported being propositioned by a female voice while alone in their rooms. Others have seen the figure of a naked woman with them while taking a shower. One man even claimed he was sexually assaulted by an invisible entity during his stay.

Other strange noises and occurrences were reported by staff and guests including things seemingly being moved around by themselves, such as the maid’s cart being pushed down the hall when no one was there.

In October, 1979 the hotel was listed on National Register of Historic Places. When it closed in 1988 the building stood empty for more almost fifteen years. However, the historic hotel has now been slated for restoration and the $46.4 million project is expected t be completed in 2006. The restoration is said to include the original exterior finish, installation of historically accurate windows, reconfigured guest rooms and new guest elevators. The hotel will feature an elegant lobby and restaurants, as well as state-of-the-art meeting rooms and restoration of the fourteenth-floor Venetian Room. Whenever possible, historical elements such as moldings, tiles and ceiling treatments will be incorporated into the design.

It will be interesting to see if Effie appears to construction workers during the restoration and again to customers when the hotel is re-opens, restored to its former grandeur.
The Skirvin Hotel is located at 1 Park Avenue in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
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RE: okc area +50 or so miles

Post by Willard »

That reminds me of the famous Peabody Hotel in Memphis
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RE: okc area +50 or so miles

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RE: okc area +50 or so miles

Post by whipping_post »

They're still in the process of renovating the Skirvin, although they've been in the process for about 20 years. Now that they've been renovating different parts of the downtown area, somebody, quite possibly the state, has ponied up the cash to do a full renovation. Even in it's decay, it was very beautiful inside.

It's one of those places that even when done, I wouldn't mind taking pictures because they're supposed to be keeping it as close to original as possible. I suppose we'll see if it ever does get finished.

Then there's the ghost stories about the place.
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RE: okc area +50 or so miles

Post by whipping_post »

And I have since re-read what holeeroler wrote and feel somewhat chagrined since I basically said the same thing. Bolocks.
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RE: okc area +50 or so miles

Post by idontlikespam »

A few years ago - 1997 I believe, the City of Oklahoma City had paid one million dollars for the Skirvin Hotel. This information comes from the Oklahoma County Assessor's office. The City allowed a group of us in to gather footage of the building as we were working on putting together a historical documentary about the building. There were a couple of closets full of papers on the Skirvin that they had saved, but weren't really doing anything with.
We went probably three different times. We also did an investigation while we there and did not get any evidence of it being haunted. Which there is a lot of history to support a haunting, we never got anything. But I did get these pictures which I think are kinda cool. And the one with all the orbs, those are because the whole place was covered in bird crap (note the floor is white) and there was a lot of dust in the air. The last two are from the roof and I have some of the view from the roof, but I will have to get them off a disk at home.
The pictures are at http://www.eerieok.com/photos.htm. Scroll down to where it says "These were taken at the Skirvin". (there are some cool pictures of other places, too)
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RE: okc area +50 or so miles

Post by Willard »

This reminds me of the Colonial Hotel that used to be a downtown landmark here in Springfield. It was just as grand as the Skirvin but on a smaller scale. SMSU tore it down for a parking lot in 1998. It makes me sad.
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RE: okc area +50 or so miles

Post by idontlikespam »

I forgot to add that the Marriott purchased the Skirvin from the City of Oklahoma City in the last year or so and they are the ones re doing it now. There's been a lot of vandalism in there and the top two floors are literally covered in bird poop.
The basement was a food court type place with shops and stuff and many of them are like people just up & left. Really weird down in there.
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RE: okc area +50 or so miles

Post by whipping_post »

Didn't part of the underground walkway go to the Skirvin at one point? I know several parts of that area were walled off at one point or another so it's possible that that would account for the basement food service.

I didn't know the Marriot was involved in the reconstruction. To me it doesn't make sense for them to be involved considering they already have a stake in at least 2 hotels already in the area. I know they raised the taxes in order to help pay for the renovations, which most people voted for if I remember correctly, but it just doesn't make sense for them to spread themselves like this unless they're going to either close one of their places down or just keep the Skirvin as a sort of "upscale" hotel.
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RE: okc area +50 or so miles

Post by White Rabbit »

If I were in OKC, I'd just pick one of those gigantic buildings at random and try to get on the roof.
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Re: RE: okc area +50 or so miles

Post by whipping_post »

White Rabbit wrote:If I were in OKC, I'd just pick one of those gigantic buildings at random and try to get on the roof.
Some of the buildings have alarm systems and cameras, some don't. A lot of the newer ones do have all of that good stuff. They've inceased the police patrols in some places of downtown because of the renewal going on, but I still wish some of the old bricktown warehouses were "open" for viewing. They have made some of the old buildings look pretty good inside by incorporating much of the original workings and architecture.
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RE: okc area +50 or so miles

Post by idontlikespam »

yes, the walkways do go through there and there are locked doors at the end of the skirvin's part of the walkway that go to another building's part and so on. in fact, it was cold when we were there and we huddled up by the doors because there was heat coming from the other side.
the view from the roof was awesome and i will get those pics up later.
my friend runs a tour of haunted locations in bricktown and okc if anyone is interested. it's pretty good and not your run of the mill stuff. it's a lot of places people don't know the stories about.
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Re: RE: okc area +50 or so miles

Post by whipping_post »

idontlikespam wrote:yes, the walkways do go through there and there are locked doors at the end of the skirvin's part of the walkway that go to another building's part and so on. in fact, it was cold when we were there and we huddled up by the doors because there was heat coming from the other side.
the view from the roof was awesome and i will get those pics up later.
my friend runs a tour of haunted locations in bricktown and okc if anyone is interested. it's pretty good and not your run of the mill stuff. it's a lot of places people don't know the stories about.
I'd probably enjoy that actually. Some of the stories I know but there are so many that it's hard to keep them all together. In fact, I work in an old hotel in downtown but I don't want to say which one for fear of my bosses finding out that I'm online and getting myself in trouble.
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