Restoring the Whiting Apartments

Restoring the Whiting Apartments. . , The Easleys have taken much pleasure in restoring the Whiting Apartments. Most all of the restoration has been done by the Easleys themselves, although they do not wish to ignore the many handy men who have helped. Stephen and his wife Debra, who is from Nebraska, together with their wonderful children, started with lots and lots of clean up., The major portion of the restoration took 1 to 2 years. They started with the outside structure first. Stephen stated "that if it falls off or breaks when you touch it, tear it out. It needs to be repaired." Only a portion of the exterior brick, masonry, and stucco had to be repaired. Next to be repaired were the roofs of the Apartment buildings and the concrete walkways. Both were coated with several layers of tar paper and black tar roof coating. All this was torn off and a metal roof replaced the Apartment roofs and on the concrete walkways, a concrete sealer made especially for concrete over commercial buildings was used. The electric and plumbing were brought up to code and much of the interior walls were patched and repaired. The Easleys had special windows made for the side windows of each apartment to update the apartments for a modern convenience, "air conditioning." These are the only windows that are new; all other windows are original to the building. The original floor plan was kept in each apartment. Each apartment has a bedroom-living room combination with a kitchen, bathroom, and a large walk-in closet. In the bathrooms, all of the original claw foot bath tubs were still in good shape and so most were kept. Originally each apartment had a service window to their apartments; a couple of these were kept for their historical value. These service windows are another unique feature of the Whiting apartment buildings. These windows would allow delivery service of groceries, ice, and laundry without the delivery person entering into the apartment. Future plans for these apartments were to bring them as close to original as possible and having these for overnight or by the week lodging for guests touring Pawhuska., Most of the commercial spaces today are altered on the interior to best fit the needs of the existing business. However, they still retain the original architectural floor plans and designs, such as the very high ceilings, the front and rear access, and although covered temporariliy for protection, the penicore glass remains above each store front window., The Easleys have taken many pictures of the restoration project, and it would be their pleasure to give you a tour of Osage Square Historical Whiting Bed and Bath. Please call 918-287-4839 for a tour., Commercial Space 709 , 1925 - B and R Furniture Co., J.R. Harris and Indian Silk Shop , 1928 - M and M System Groceries , 1956 - Crawford Transfer and Storage, Commercial Space 711 , 1925 - [blank]