{"id":26864,"date":"2016-07-07T11:18:29","date_gmt":"2016-07-07T16:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=26864"},"modified":"2016-07-07T11:36:52","modified_gmt":"2016-07-07T16:36:52","slug":"why-okcs-electric-transformer-house-is-on-the-national-list-of-historic-places","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2016\/07\/07\/why-okcs-electric-transformer-house-is-on-the-national-list-of-historic-places\/","title":{"rendered":"Why OKC&#8217;s Electric Transformer House Is On the National List Of Historic Places"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_26870\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26870\" alt=\"The restored Electric Transformer House at 2412 North Olie Ave. in Oklahoma City. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH1.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH1-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restored Electric Transformer House at 2412 North Olie Ave. in Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>The latest <a title=\"NewsOn6Link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.newson6.com\/story\/32316845\/8-historic-sites-in-oklahoma-added-to-national-register\" target=\"_blank\">update of the National Register of Historic Places<\/a> includes the kinds of Oklahoma buildings you\u2019d expect to be on such a list: a school\u00a0in Atoka built for black students during the New Deal era, a church in Garfield County barely altered since its construction in 1928, a hotel in Guymon that&#8217;s been the tallest building in town for nearly 70 years.<\/p><p>But not all of the properties on the list immediately flash their historic value, like a nondescript one-room brick building in Oklahoma City called the Electric Transformer House.<\/p><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/272598985&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=false\" height=\"150\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p><p><!--more--><\/p><p>Google it and you\u2019ll find practically nothing <a title=\"OKC.govLink\" href=\"https:\/\/agenda.okc.gov\/sirepub\/cache\/2\/u0y5iq45zx33x2mv4rfnlb55\/301162307072016102517859.PDF\" target=\"_blank\">beyond applications requesting the building be designated\u00a0&#8220;historic.<\/a>&#8221;\u00a0And online maps show only a small rectangular brick building in off northwest 23rd Street in Oklahoma City. So why is this seemingly random, unimpressive<strong>&#8211;<\/strong>looking structure\u00a0being<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>elevated to historic status?<\/p><p>Up close, it\u2019s easy to see the details that make the building unique: Boreholes leading to underground chambers where wires used to run, old-timey electric insulators set into brick-lined ducts along top of the building.<\/p><p>Dan Hollacher swings open the freshly painted, bright red metal door. He\u2019s been the owner of the Electric Transformer House for the past 32 years.<\/p><p>\u201cIt was just an empty shell, and I lived in it for six months until I moved in with her,\u201d Hollacher says, gesturing toward his wife, Claudia Kamas.<\/p><p>She didn\u2019t want to live in the Electric Transformer House. She says she likes to have some land around her.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26871\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26871\" alt=\"Claudia Kamas and Dan Hollacher, owners of the Electric Transformer House. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH3.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH3.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH3-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH3-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH3-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Claudia Kamas and Dan Hollacher, owners of the Electric Transformer House.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>There was plenty of land around the Electric Transformer House when Oklahoma Gas and Electric built it around 1911. It was in the northwest corner of Oklahoma City then, and the transformer house provided power to the growing area.<\/p><p>Catherine Montgomery is the founder of Preservation and Design Studio, and helped guide the building\u2019s rehabilitation.<\/p><p>\u201cSee all those little ducts that are just sticking out? Those would\u2019ve had wires coming out of them,\u201d Montgomery says. \u201cSo it\u2019s a lot cleaner in appearance than it would\u2019ve been in real life.\u201d<\/p><p>And even a century ago, OG&E constructed the building with tornadoes and fire in mind.<\/p><p>\u201cThey\u2019re built tornado proof,\u201d Hollacher says. \u201cThe walls are 13 inches thick, concrete up four feet, and then three bricks thick up to the roof. The roof is seven inches of concrete.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26872\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26872\" alt=\"When the Electric Transformer House was being used for its original purpose, wires would've wrapped all around the top of the building. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH4.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH4.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH4-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH4-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH4-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">When the Electric Transformer House was being used for its original purpose, wires would&#39;ve wrapped all around the top of the building.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>It\u2019s a very study building, and that\u2019s one reason it withstood the test of time. \u00a0Montgomery says the other two Oklahoma City transformer houses weren\u2019t as lucky.<\/p><p>\u201cOne of them has been significantly modified. It\u2019s got all kinds of newer constructed editions that just basically enclose it, so you can\u2019t even tell,\u201d Montgomery says.<\/p><p>She thinks the other is gone.<\/p><p>Montgomery says she was only able to find one other old transformer house in the entire country on the list of historic places. Inclusion doesn\u2019t necessarily protect a building from demolition or modification, but it does qualify the owner for federal historic preservation tax credits.<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s important to our local community. And specifically, Heritage Hills, Paseo, all of our historic districts around here could have potentially been served \u2014 gotten their electrical service from this transformer House,\u201d Montgomery says. \u201cSo this one\u2019s quite a little gem, because it\u2019s all kind of self contained.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26873\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26873\" alt=\"Catherine Montgomery at Preservation and Design Studio, which helped guide the restoration of the Electric Transformer House. \" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH5.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH5.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH5-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH5-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2016\/07\/PHOTO-7-7-ETH5-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Logan Layden \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Catherine Montgomery at Preservation and Design Studio, which helped guide the restoration of the Electric Transformer House.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>By the 1950s, Oklahoma City\u2019s population had grown too big for Electric Transformer Houses, so OG&E constructed the open-air metal entanglements we see today.<\/p><p>Oklahoma City\u2019s Electric Transformer House is a relic of the past, and helps tell the story of the evolution of power generation and delivery in the early days of electricity \u2014 or at least the outside of the building does.<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s a yoga studio,\u201d Hollacher says. \u201cWe lease the building to a yogini and a massage lady.\u201d<\/p><p>Hollacher says people are welcome to walk by and look \u2014 or make a massage appointment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>StateImpact visited the Electric Transformer House to find out why this seemingly random, unimpressive looking place was being elevated to historic status.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":26872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[490],"tags":[128,525],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26864"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26864"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26889,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26864\/revisions\/26889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}