Leon B. Senter

Leon B. Senter
Born	Leon Burton Senter March 5, 1889 Johnson County, Kansas
Died	September 16, 1965 Tulsa
Nationality	U.S.A.
Other names	Leon Senter
Occupation(s)	Architect, building designer
Years active	1912-1948
Known for	Art Deco,

Leon Bishop Senter was born in Johnson County, Kansas and received his basic education in schools there. He continued to learn basic drafting and building design through correspondence schools and actual practice under local draftsmen and architects. In 1910, he married and began to raise a family. By 1912, he had secured a position with the Smith, Rae, and Lovitt architectural firm in Kansas City, Missouri as a draftsman and office manager. When the partners decided to open a new office in Okmulgee, Oklahoma in 1915, Senter was named manager there while the other partners remained in Kansas City between 1918 and 1924. In 1918, he was made a full partner in the firm and remained in Okmulgee.

Career in Okmulgee

According to the Tulsa Foundation for Architecture, Senter was credited with the design of at least three major building projects during his residence in Okmulgee. These were: <Indent>

• Orpheum Theatre (1919)
• Commerce Building (1921)
• Carnegie Public Library (1922)

</Indent>

The three structures listed above are not the only Senter-designed buildings that still stand in Okmulgee. There are the McCullough Building (1926), a six-story, red brick and terracotta office building at the corner of 5th and Grand in the Okmulgee Downtown Historic District (ODHD). The sixth floor has served as the Masonic Temple for much of the building's history.

The Kennedy Building (1902) is a three-story structure that stands at the corner of 6th and Grand Streets in the ODHD. According to Waymarking, Leon Senter was the designer, and incorporated many elements of Italian Renaissance Style. It was the headquarters of the Okmulgee National Bank for many years.

According to an article in The Oklahoman, the Okmulgee Country Club and Golf Course, was designed by Leon Senter in 1920. As of 2018, it still stands at 1400 S Mission Lane in Okmulgee, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). When it opened, the facility had a clubhouse, golf course, tennis courts and croquet ground. The article said the State Historic Preservation Office described it as,"... an exceptional example of the Bungalow/Craftsman style clubhouse.

Frank Rea died in 1920, but business was still flourishing, so the former partnership was dissolved, and reformed in 1924 as Smith and Senter, headquartered in Okmulgee. In 1925, Senter became the first licensed architect in Oklahoma, after the state enacted a law requiring registration of architects and requiring licensing and procedures. He carried License Number 1 for the rest of his career. In 1928, he relocated to Tulsa, and in 1933 formed Senter Associates that included his son, Leon B. Senter, Jr., who had also become an architect.

Career in Tulsa

Smith & Senter moved from Okmulgee to Tulsa in 1928, where it immediately began working to design a multi-purpose, indoor arena for Walter Whiteside, a Minnesota millionaire.

Whiteside specifically wanted the arena to be suitable for a wide variety of cold-weather entertainments. Later, he made it known that he wanted to introduce ice hockey to sports fans in the southern states. One of Senter's biggest challenges was to design the ice rink so that it could be easily changed into a sturdy dry floor with additional seating to handle non-ice events like circuses, musical performances, etc.

The Tulsa Foundation for Architecture compiled the following list of projects completed by Leon Senter after he moved his office to Tulsa: <Indent>

• Tulsa Coliseum (1930) Saracen Revival style
• Philcade Building (1929-1930) Art Deco style
• Skelly Stadium University of Tulsa - Skelly Stadium (1930)
• Tulsa Fire Alarm Building (1931)
• Tulsa Municipal Airport Administration Building (1932, Smith & Senter)
• Union Bus Depot (1935) Art Deco style
• Will Rogers High School (1939) Art Deco style
• Stanolind/Service Pipe Line Building (Atlantic Richfield Building) (1949) Streamline/Art Moderne style
• Booker T. Washington High School (1950)
• Mayo Motor Inn (1952)
• Downtown Tulsa YMCA (1953) International style
• Page Belcher Federal Building and United States Post Office (1967), International style

<Indent/>

Professional honors and recognition

Senter was elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architecture in 1957. He also served as a member of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, as a member of the licensing board for Oklahoma architects and as a member of the board of design for the Tulsa Civic Center.

See also

• International Correspondence Schools