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A mix of high-profile and little-known sites comprise Preservation Oklahoma's 2014 List of Most Endangered Properties.
With its 21st annual rundown, unveiled Tuesday night at Tulsa's Circle Cinema, Preservation Oklahoma places a strong focus on eastern Oklahoma. Five of the 12 entries fell within metropolitan Tulsa, with a sixth eastern site in Talihina. Three came from the Oklahoma City area, one north of Ponca City and two considered statewide.
Among them all, the most threatened may be central Oklahoma's U.S. Highway 77 bridge over the Canadian River, said Preservation Oklahoma Executive Director David Pettyjohn. Opened in 1939 at a cost of $651,000 - equivalent to about $10.6 million now - Pettyjohn said that Purcell span is considered Oklahoma's best example of a deck truss bridge. Structural damage led to its January closing. Efforts to reopen the span by May were pushed back.
"Eventually they're talking about replacing it," said Pettyjohn, noting concerns over the bridge's metal composition. "That would lead to the possibility of that structure being demolished."
Oklahoma's Capitol building also ranks high on the list, due to an estimated $160 million in backlogged maintenance and repair issues. Legislators...