Demolition crews working at the Donnay Building are tearing out unstable portions of the landmark which developers say is still being restored and rebuilt.
Nick Preftakes and partner Caleb Hill bought the building, at Northwest Expressway and Classen Boulevard, in March 2022, for $1.5 million. They spent the first year uncovering decades of patchwork repairs and additions to learn what parts could be salvaged.
Now, in order to save the building, the pair are gutting the interior of the main building but saving the east and north walls as well as the two-story apartment annex building.
“It’s got nine separate floor levels,” Preftakes said. “How do you get it ADA compliant? When we’re done, it will have three.”
Preftakes said the building was in far worse condition than expected and is surprised it didn’t collapse when it was still home to the Hi-Lo Club and The Drunken Fry.
“The east half had steel in it, but the west half was all wood that was damaged,” Preftakes said. “The rafters were black as asphalt and was sheet rocked over. The roof structure was completely charred as were the floors.” To make matters worse, the roof structure was badly designed to where water was not draining to the ground.
Other old and historic buildings in OKC have been gutted, preserved
The Donnay Building, which will be renamed “Classen Circle,” is not the first troubled old building to be gutted to save what’s left.
Steve Mason was still able to get a century-old former Cadillac dealership at 1015 N Broadway added to the National Register of Historic Places after gutting it down to the dirt foundation.
Marva Ellard, one of the city’s leading preservationists, gutted the former Sieber grocery building as part of her restoration of the adjoining Sieber Hotel. Bob Howard rescued the Marion Hotel, but did so only after gutting the interior of the 119-year-old building. Both were added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Donnay Building is unlike any other in the city, consisting of oddly shaped outcrops of restaurant, bar, shop and apartment space, all defying modern code requirements and in serious need of repairs. Research by late preservationist Lynne Rostochil indicates it was built in phases between 1948 and 1954.
More:Reconstruction set to start at Oklahoma City’s iconic Donnay Building
The building was also a historic site for the city’s LGBT community due it being home to the Hi-Lo Club for decades. Preftakes has already completed restoration of the Classen Grill, another landmark on the block. The restaurant is set to reopen this month.
Bockus Payne is doing architecture on the project and Clyde Rigss Construction is overseeing the renovations.
“It’s an adventure for structural engineers,” Preftakes said. “When it’s done, it will look like what we shown in the pictures. We will deliver this space at the end of 2024. It’s not going to stall.”
