Rotary Club of Tulsa President Carl Vincent opened Wednesday’s meeting with a story from the past, recalling the days when the club met at the Mayo Hotel in the 1960s.
In 1963, Hollywood legend Joan Crawford made an appearance there, promoting Pepsi at a hotel that, ironically, served Coke products. Vincent concluded his remarks by saying, “Rotarians’ job is to carry legacy forward through fellowship and service.”
That theme of honoring the past while building for the future was echoed by the day’s guest speaker, real estate developer Macy Snyder-Amatucci.
In 2001, Snyder-Amatucci and her family purchased Tulsa’s Mayo Hotel, which had sat vacant for nearly two decades following the end of the oil boom.
“The city’s crown jewel sat empty,” she said.
With the help of $4.7 million in funding from Tulsa’s Vision 2025 program, the hotel was restored and reopened in 2009. Pop star Britney Spears was the first guest to stay in the renovated space, ushering in a new era for the iconic property.
Now, Snyder-Amatucci hopes to do the same with another architectural treasure, Bartlesville’s Price Tower, the only completed skyscraper designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
After a nearly six-month legal battle, her company Brickhugger LLC purchased the landmark in May.
The company’s name is a twist on “treehugger,” a term often used to mock environmentalists. Snyder-Amatucci embraces it proudly, calling herself a "brickhugger."
“Sustainability isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a mindset,” she told the Rotarians.
Price Tower, nicknamed “the tree that escaped the crowded forest” by Wright, had suffered years of neglect. When her team arrived, utilities had been shut off, pipes were frozen, and the basement was flooded.
“We immediately got the water out of the basement,” Snyder-Amatucci said. “We isolated all the leaks from the frozen pipes and put a new roof on the building.”
The building now has running water, electricity and one working elevator.
The restoration plan includes new elevators, a modern HVAC system, and careful preservation of Wright’s design. Snyder-Amatucci is working closely with the National Park Service and the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy, which holds a preservation easement on the tower.
Some original Wright-designed furniture and artifacts, previously sold off by the former owner, have recently been recovered by the conservancy and will be returned to Price Tower when it reopens.
Snyder-Amatucci says one of her favorite spaces is the top two floors, which once housed the office and apartment of the building’s original owner Harold C. Price. She recently toured the floors with younger team members and was surprised by their reaction.
“It’s so ‘Mad Men’,” they told her.
When complete, the restored tower will feature 21 residences, 20 hotel rooms, a bar and restaurant, an event space, and a museum. The public will be able to enjoy the revitalized landmark when it reopens, tentatively scheduled for May 2027.
Like with Snyder-Amatucci’s restoration of Tulsa’s Mayo Hotel, this isn’t just another development.
“This is not just a project,” she said. “It’s a calling. A legacy.”
