Community Members Bringing Life Back To Historic Buildings In Northeast OKC

Community members in northeast Oklahoma City are reimagining how historic buildings will serve future generations.

There are only a few spaces left in NE OKC that offer a glimpse into the once-thriving Black community.

Andrea Luster remembers hearing stories from family members about Deep Deuce, specifically.

“They talked about the music,” Luster said. “They talked about the food, the different personalities or the singers or the musicians that came in.”

Her father-in-law, Melvin Luster, lived in a mansion on the corner of Central Northeast 3rd, giving him a front row seat to all the entertainment the area had to offer.

Luster said the area has changed a lot. The once thriving area is now quiet, but she wants the integrity to stay intact.

“I would like to see something that preserves the history of what took place years ago. It really evolved around music,” Luster said.

Luster, along with others in the northeast OKC community, brainstormed ideas to get the Luster-Lyons Mansion and the Brockway Center back to serving the community.

Jackie Gates-Jefferson said the Brockway Center was a meeting place for the Oklahoma City Federation of Colored Women’s Club.

“In the sixties, I believe, we still could go to hotels. I don't know if we were always welcomed at hotels, so we used buildings like that for our meeting places,” Gates-Jefferson said. “Not just the federation but for a whole host of community groups.”

People gathered Saturday to discuss how to repurpose these spaces and reminiscing on what these buildings meant to the community.

“I'm grateful that the community is involved in the reimagining of these properties,” Gates-Jefferson said.

Focus groups will now look at what's next for these structures.