The owner of the Price Tower in Bartlesville announces that the hotel in the tower will be closed for financial reasons.
Last month, owner Cynthia Blanchard sold some of the artifacts inside the tower to keep the doors open, but she said that wasn’t enough.
Related: Price Tower owner dispels rumors about sale of some of the tower’s artifacts
Blanchard says this is a temporary decision and she isn’t sure what the next steps are, but some tenants are already looking for an exit plan.
Keith and Christy McPhail are the senior editors of B Monthly Magazine and their office has been in Price Tower for seven years.
The agreement stipulated that instead of paying rent, they would give Price Tower a full-fledged advertisement in their magazine every month.
The McPhails received an email from the owner last week saying they would now have to pay rent instead of completing the exchange.
“We have decided to move on,” said Keith McPhail. “The Price Tower is moving on, so we will also be moving in a different direction.”
Blanchard owns the Price Tower and says the hotel in the tower will be temporarily closed and she is unsure if it will reopen.
Blanchard sent a statement to News On 6, which reads:
“We had to make a difficult decision based on a number of negative, unsubstantiated and untrue articles in the local press. It caused tremendous damage to our business to the point that we could no longer support our current staff. We decided to temporarily close the hotel because we did not have enough staff to serve our guests. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. We have tried so hard to make this work and our team is incredible. Everyone has made sacrifices and I wish I could say with confidence what will happen tomorrow but we just don’t know yet. What I do know is that our team has gone above and beyond and made huge sacrifices to make this work and I am very, very proud of them.”
Blanchard spoke to Bartlesville Radio on Friday afternoon.
“We had to make huge cuts because we currently have no business. I didn’t know that the employees were saying we were closing. We had to lay off employees,” Blanchard told Bartlesville Radio.
Blanchard also acknowledged that maintaining this landmark is costly.
“The Price Tower may be for sale. We have received offers and if the situation is right, I cannot sustain this,” Blanchard said.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy criticized Blanchard for selling some items made by Frank Lloyd Wright for the tower.
Blanchard says it is necessary to keep the tower open.
Barbara Gordon, executive director of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy Group, sent News On 6 a statement that read:
“Today is a sad day for Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and a troubling day for all who believe in the value of preserving Frank Lloyd Wright’s legacy. The closure of Price Tower brings an end to a difficult chapter in this landmark’s history, but it also presents an opportunity. Price Tower needs a committed new owner immediately, one with experience building and implementing a business model that will reopen and preserve the building and provide much-needed resources for its preservation and maintenance. The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy holds a conservation easement on Price Tower that includes the exterior, certain interior spaces, and the museum collection. We look forward to working with a qualified buyer willing to take on the challenge of revitalizing this significant building.”
The McPhails hope that the people of Bartlesville will come together and find a way to save the tower.
“We need to focus on what we can do,” Christy McPhail said. “Not on what has been done. Or who made mistakes or did something wrong. Based on what you think. But on what we can do now to move forward.”
News On 6 tried to enter the building, but the doors were closed. It is still unclear if and when the doors will open.
Click here to listen to the Bartlesville radio report.
