Tulsa Selects Award-Winning Architecture Firm For Greenwood Cultural Center Renovation

Press release from City of Tulsa:

April 12, 2021

After a recommendation from the Greenwood Cultural Center Board, Mayor G.T. Bynum selected the Moody Nolan / JCJ Architecture team to lead the Greenwood Cultural Center’s renovation project.

Moody Nolan will oversee the design and serve as a cultural adviser for the renovations, JCJ Architecture will be the local architect of record.

"We want the Greenwood Cultural Center to be more than just a meeting space," Mayor Bynum said. "Thanks to Tulsa voters, the renovations will create a state-of-the-art facility that honors Greenwood's past while helping build and support future generations of Tulsans."

Moody Nolan is the largest African American-owned architecture firm in the country, and it is the 2021 AIA Architecture Firm of the Year. The firm has designed numerous African American history and culture projects across the country, including serving as executive architect for the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, which is currently under construction.

“We look forward to bringing our national presence and expertise on cultural facilities to the Greenwood Cultural Center,” says Curt Moody, founder and chairman of the board of Moody Nolan. “We recognize the significance of this project to not only Tulsa, but to American history.”

Tulsa voters approved $5.3 million in 2019's Improve Our Tulsa sales tax renewal package for the Greenwood Cultural Center's improvements.

"We are thrilled about renovating the Greenwood Cultural Center; it is the heart of Greenwood and Black Wall Street in Tulsa," said Dr. La Verne Ford Wimberley, chairwoman of the Greenwood Cultural Center Board of Directors. "This Center will welcome people from all over. It will be a place where people can learn the story of Greenwood, see the artifacts, and experience what has sustained us over the years."

The project includes a complete remodel of the existing facility, including the Main Atrium, the Goodwin Chapelle Gallery, the Opal Dargan Auditorium, various classrooms, office spaces, restrooms and kitchen improvements. General maintenance, painting, and fixture replacements will be done inside the Mabel B. Little House.

This press release was produced by the City of Tulsa. The views expressed here are the author’s own.