News Updates

Jazz Hall on Firmer Footing with County. Tulsa County Commissioners confirmed that utility payments have been paid by officials with the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame . "As of Saturday, the electric bill has finally been paid and is current," Commissioner John Smaligo said at the October 15 meeting of the Tulsa County Industrial Authority.

The announcement brings to a close one chapter in what has lately been a contentious landlord-tenant relationship. The Jazz Hall of Fame is housed in the historic art deco Tulsa Union Depot building downtown, which was purchased and renovated for the Jazz Hall in a move approved by voters in 2003.

While the Jazz Hall stays essentially rent free, county commissioners were upset earlier this year upon learning that utility bills were in the name of the county -- and that they were overdue.

In an Aug. 20 meeting of the authority, the Hall of Fame's Chief Executive Officer Jason McIntosh told commissioners the organization planned to pay roughly $30,000 in overdue electric bills by a Sept. 4 deadline set by commissioners.

The organization missed the deadline, however, leading to a letter warning the organization that it had violated its lease agreement. County officials were also upset that they had not been notified that the Deborah Brown Community School had opened a satellite site in the Union Depot building under an informal agreement with the Jazz Hall of Fame.

Commissioners at the Oct. 15 meeting discussed the issue, approving a motion that clears the way for a city-issued certificate of occupancy to be granted to the school. However, county officials made it clear that they reserve to right to review any sublease agreement between the school and the Jazz Hall, with negotiations ongoing.