First Christian Church - Oklahoma City, OK
Posted by: hamquilter
N 35° 28.698 W 097° 30.949
14S E 634646 N 3927099
This building is the best example of an ecclesiastical structure utilizing the Neo-classical Revival style found in Oklahoma City.
Waymark Code: WMAPYQ
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 02/09/2011
Views: 4
The three-story limestone church building located at 1104 N. Robinson is a building you stand in front of with your mouth open! The main entrance is on the south and has a full-width limestone staircase of fifteen steps, leading up to the front doors. The staircase is divided into five sections by metal railings and leads to a porch with six limestone columns, with Corinthian capitals.
The building was constructed in 1910, with its first service in 1911. The windows on the third level west are arched, with rectangular windows on the second level. Most are stained glass. The roof consists of hips and gables, with ornate eaves and cornice. There is a central dome, with three additional cupola domes on the northwest, southwest and southeast corners of the building. These domes are topped with ornamentation and finial. Below each cupola are pilasters with Corinthian capitals.
The building was occupied as First Christian Church from 1911 until 1956. It was being renovated at the time of submission to the Register in 1984, and is currently the home of CityChurch.
UPDATE DEC. 2, 2011: CityChurch, who owned this building since 1992 and oversaw repairs after it was damaged by the 1995 bombing of the nearby Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building moved out on 8/7/11. Frontline Church, a rapidly growing congregation of 1,200 currently meeting along Automobile Alley, bought the property for $1.2 million. The congregation will hold its first service on Dec. 4th.
There are three sets of double doors on the south. Over the center set is inscribed: "First Christian Church / 1911 / Christ the light of the world."
A plaque placed by the Oklahoma City Historical Preservation Commission in 1973 reads: "Old First Christian Church / Built in the Renaissance style in 1910, this church served its congregation originally organized in 1889, until a new edifice was finished in 1956."
[Details gleaned from the Register nomination].