Shop Decopolis's new Tulsarama location

Today, I stopped to do some Christmas shopping at the new Decopolis Tulsarama Station on Historic Route 66 at 5717 E. 11th St. The Decopolis Discovitorium has been open since 2020 at 1401 E. 11th St. in the Meadow Gold District, but Tulsarama just opened on November 22, 2025, a bit less than a year before U.S. Highway 66's centennial on November 11, 2026. Tulsarama, named after Tulsa's 1957 celebration of Oklahoma's semi-centennial, is like a collection of little specialty shops in one location. The building was originally Creech's Cafe, but for most of its existence was McCollum's Restaurant, sitting just west of the Will Rogers Motor Hotel and amidst a mile of motels on what was then Tulsa's eastern outskirts. Just inside the door from the parking lot, you'll see displays with photos and text on the history of the building and the area, and even an old menu. Every room is beautifully and imaginatively decorated by owner William Franklin, who is an accomplished painter of murals, portraits, and trompe l'oeil, with work installed around the globe. Right along 11th Street is the bright and sunny Tulsarama ice cream parlor, serving a dozen hand-dipped flavors from Tulsa's Big Dipper Creamery. The booths are decorated with owner William Franklin's whimsical Tulsarama Gang comic strips, each one illustrating an aspect of Tulsa's history, and with artwork and articles from Oklahoma's 50th anniversary. 1957 was the high-water mark of Route 66 and the post-World War II great American road trip, when locally-owned small businesses dominated the two-lane roads that took Americans across the country. In the corner of the ice cream parlor, there's a Tulsa Visitor Center, with free maps and brochures, as well as books for sale about Route 66, Oklahoma, and Tulsa. They've got the new Route 66: The First Hundred Years by Jim Ross and Shellee Graham. The complex also encompasses FableRealm Bookstore, which has books, toys, and gifts related to popular fantasy fiction series. Just beyond the bookstore, you reach William's Tulsey Town Art Gallery, with prints celebrating Art Deco and Tulsa history. There are prints of historic Oklahoma maps, of architect Paul Corrubia's evocative 1937 charcoal sketches of Tulsa landmarks, and of William Franklin's own paintings of Tulsa's architectural gems. There are plans to offer painting classes in this room early next year. You can also find handmade, leather-bound journals, and the pottery of Jezz Strutt, who offers some Tulsa and Route 66-themed items. Decopolis, a combination gift shop and museum devoted to celebrating Tulsa's Art Deco heritage, first opened in a storefront in the parking garage at 6th and Boston in 2012. In 2016, the store moved a block north into the Thompson Building at 5th and Boston. The downtown location closed at the end of 2020, but Meadow Gold District location had opened in October of that same year and is still thriving today. The Discovitorium features dinosaur, sci-fi, and fantasy-related gifts, toys, and books. It includes a mini Tulsa Art Deco museum where you can pick up a free Tulsa Art Deco downtown walking tour map. William's dream is to add a new and bigger Discovitorium and a full-fledged Tulsa Art Deco museum to the new Tulsarama complex. In a Facebook post from last week, he talks about the tourism impact of many individual small-business initiatives, but they need local support to succeed and grow:

[Tourism as an industry] is a new thing for Tulsa that I believe has huge promise and potential for growth. Go to the Meadow Gold District and check out the "Route 66 Giants" and the fun shops and restaurants that have sprung up there in just the last couple of years. This is just one, small part of what promises to be a whole new, vital industry which could bring fun, excitement, money and jobs, to Tulsa, to you. There is a saying, You can make a big splash in two ways, throw in a big boulder, or throw in a lot of coordinated pebbles. All the little tourism related attractions and businesses along Route 66 in Tulsa, and in our neighboring towns, could make a wonderfully big, fun, neon colored splash! BUT this is still a nascent enterprise and we are facing what looks to be a tougher year than normal. Right at the time when a lot of small Tourism related businesses on Route 66 in Tulsa have just started, or expanded. So we could use a little extra attention this week and next from the good people of Tulsa to help us out. Our BIG dream? We would like to add a full fledged Museum, the DECOPOLIS Tulsa Art Deco Museum, a new bigger Decopolis Discovitorium and Mesmer Island Dino Adventure, to the same TulsaRama & FableRealm Books property. A wonderful new attraction for you to visit and enjoy! Scheels? Once we achieve our plans, we will leave them in the dust.

Over the last year, amidst exciting concept sketches and photos of construction progress, William shared the frustrations of the City of Tulsa permitting process, which slowed everything down and put hopes of opening for the Route 66 Centennial year in jeopardy. Individual entrepreneurship, individual owners each with their own quirky vision, is what built Route 66 and made it memorable, and yet city leaders focus their attention on top-down, government-funded "attractions" like the Cry Baby statue. People like William don't need government subsidies, they just need the city to make the permitting process as painless, predictable, and quick as possible. Redirecting weird statue money to improving government services would be a good start. I hope you'll take time to visit Decopolis's two locations and the many other locally owned businesses along Tulsa's Route 66. Both stores are open 10-6 tomorrow, Christmas Eve, and remember, there are twelve days of Christmas, starting with Christmas Day, so you can keep shopping and giving gifts through Epiphany.
- December 23, 2025 at 08:52PM
Shop Decopolis's new Tulsarama location
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