Tuesday, June 20th 2023, 6:13 pm
The storms caused a wall of Tulsa's Rose Bowl to collapse.
For years, it was a bowling alley in town, but is now a community center. The people who work there were shocked by the damage.
The last building Joe Blankenship thought would be damaged in the storm was the Rose Bowl.
"It has a unique structure that can endure almost anything, but apparently not 100 miles per hour straight winds," said One Hope Tulsa president, Joe Blankenship.
Joe said he's devastated by the damage. He's upset because such an iconic building in Tulsa is damaged, but more so for what happens inside the building.
"Just thinking about those things being missed, the smiles on kids faces when they come into this building, and the love that they experience," Joe explained.
One Hope Tulsa is a community ministry that helps kids in the area. They host camps and weekly dinners, but since there's damage they can't be inside the building.
"We're taking games to kids who normally come to our program. We're taking things that they can do at home, things that their parents can do with them, not nearly as good, but something, kind of like we pivoted during COVID," he said.
Joe said the cost of the damage will set them back and is hopeful the community will help.
He said his main priority is getting the wall fixed and getting back to serving kids.
"We want to be able to rally the community as quickly as we can. We have insurance but it's an older building, so it's not replacement cost, so we believe we are going to be out over $100,000," he said.
Joe said he's hoping the wall will be fixed and the building back in use in a month.
If you are interested in donating to One Hope Tulsa, click here.
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