Design and Construction
History
In 1958, the Citizens State Bank began construction.
The Gold Dome building was the fifth geodesic dome
constructed in the world and the first to be used as a
bank. It was described as “one of the nation’s most
revolutionary bank designs.” Using the geodesic dome
design created by futurist and architect Buckminster
Fuller, the architects for the Citizens State Bank,
Bailey, Bozalis, Dickinson, and Roloff of Oklahoma
City created this unusual Oklahoma City landmark.
The dome is constructed of 625 panels, ranging in
size from 7.5 to 11.5 feet (3.5 m) in length,
60 – 70 pounds in weight each, and spanning a
diameter of 145 feet (44 m). The interior covers about
27,000 square feet.1 The Gold Dome bank was an
approximately $1 million investment.
In 1998, the Oklahoma City Government pursued a
new zoning area along 23rd street, including the area
where the Gold Dome is located in order to preserve
the unique architecture and “commercial nature” of
23rd street. Twenty-third Street is located between the
urban conservation districts of the Paseo and Jefferson
Park to the north, and the historic preservation districts
of Mesta Park and Heritage Hills to the South. The
new zoning area would require property owners to
gain permission from a design review board before
demolishing or modifying buildings in this area.
In July 2001 Bank One, which owned the Gold Dome
building, applied to the Urban Design Commission (the
result of 1998 efforts) for permission to demolish the
building. The bank stated that the structure was too
large to serve as a bank and refurbishing it would be
too costly (Bank One estimated it would cost roughly
$1.7 million). The bank intended to sell the property
to Walgreens, which would place the new pharmacy
across the street from its competitor, Eckerds.
A group organized to save the Gold Dome, “Citizens
for the Golden Dome”, appealed to the Bank One
president, urging him not only to save the building
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