Oklahoma City's Gold Dome building to get a restaurant and lounge

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Dec 28, 2007 by Kelley Chambers

The Gold Dome building in Oklahoma City was not only saved from demolition in recent years but has begun to shape up as a thriving spot at the intersection of NW 23rd Street and Classen Boulevard.

Now in addition to office space and an art gallery, a restaurant and lounge is slated for a 2,900-square-foot spot in the dome's first floor.

Restaurateurs Richard Sauve (pronounced So-Vay) and Joe Rosati plan to open the Prohibition Room, a 1930s-themed establishment, by March or April. And despite the name, liquor will indeed be served in the throwback lounge setting.

Neither of the men are from Oklahoma City but Sauve's wife is from here and Rosati, who lives in Phoenix, said they saw real potential for their concept on visits to the city over the past few years.

Sauve and Rosati met in Phoenix, and Sauve decided in recent years to move to Oklahoma City after spending most of his life in Dallas.

Sauve is currently managing Flip's Wine Bar & Trattoria, and Rosati is a consultant for printing companies in Phoenix. Sauve said he has had the idea for a place like the Prohibition Room for more than a decade.

"This just blossomed when I moved out here from Phoenix," he said.

After deciding to try opening a restaurant and lounge in Oklahoma City, the two looked at several hotspots, including Automobile Alley and Bricktown as well as the boarded-up Tower Theater on NW 23rd Street.

Sauve and Rosati said the dome is such a recognized landmark in the city that they ultimately saw it as the obvious choice for the business.

Plans call for foodservice with a contemporary continental theme and a lively bar and lounge scene in the evenings that will spill out into the central lobby area under the gold dome.

The geodesic dome, at 1112 NW 23rd St., was built in 1928 as the Classen State Bank. The building changed hands several times over the years and housed branches of Liberty National Bank, Bank One and JP Morgan Chase Bank.

When it was built the dome was the fifth such structure in the world in a design patented by architect R. Buckminster Fuller.

In recent years the building was set to be razed to make way for a Walgreens store, which was later built on another corner of the intersection.

A group formed to save the dome and their efforts paid off. In 2005 after a major renovation it reopened for its new use. That group led to the formation of the Gold Dome Multicultural Society, which has its offices in the dome.

The ownership, Gold Dome LLC, is led by Irene Lam, who owns an eye care clinic in the dome.

Precor Ruffin handles leasing for the dome and saw an immediate demand from tenants looking to move into the historic structure.

Rick Pritchett, with Precor Ruffin, said the goal was to offer space for several purposes.

"Our intent from the very first time we walked through the dome was to provide different types of uses, one being an office and a retail mix," Pritchett said. "One of the last pieces of the puzzle was for us to incorporate a bar and restaurant user in there and the Prohibition Room fit that bill"

The only remaining leasable space in the roughly 18,000-square- foot dome is about 2,000 square feet on the lower level. Some of the tenants on the two floors include Lam's Bonavision eye care clinic, Leadership OKC and First Commercial Realty.

Pritchett said long-term plans call for renovating the former bank drive-thru on the south side of the dome for what he described as a yet undetermined imaginative and unique use.

As far as the Prohibition Room, Sauve plans to handle the day-to- day operations when it opens and for the time being Rosati plans to remain in Phoenix.

The pair both said they were impressed with Oklahoma City and look forward to bringing their restaurant and lounge concept to the gold dome.

"Every time I visit it's just a great experience," Rosati said. "You can really see the potential for growth as well as the great people we've met there."

************************CORRECTION**********************************

A story in The Journal Record published Dec. 28 about the Prohibition Room restaurant and lounge opening soon in the Gold Dome building at NW 23rd Street and Classen Boulevard in Oklahoma City incorrectly stated the dome's building date. The dome was built in 1958.