(Tulsa, OK) – It's been almost ten years since the September 11^th attacks.  A piece of the World Trade Center towers is now at a park in Bixby but what may be a more fitting tribute still stands tall in downtown Tulsa.

The BOK Tower and World Trade Center towers share more than a passing resemblance and that is no accident.  Minoru Yamasaki was the architect for both.

The BOK Tower was built for the Williams Companies.  John Hamill, an employee of Williams at the time, says company CEO John Williams made the decision for a single tower after being shown a model of two towers on either side of Boston Avenue.  “He took the two towers and stacked them on top of each other and put them right, straddling Boston Avenue.”

At the time of completion in 1977 the 52 story tower was the tallest building in Oklahoma.  Hamill says it was the first building in Tulsa to make major use of open space design.  “We didn’t have hard wall offices in most of the areas at Williams.  We had conference rooms for confidential conversations.  A couple of the officers didn’t go with the open space design and they had enclosed offices but for the most part we were the first cubical company in the City of Tulsa.”

Being in such a tall building did cause concern for employees with the movie “The Towering Inferno” on many minds.  Hamill says “We made a number of internal communications, primarily slide shows as well as articles in the employee publications, assuring employees of the safety of the building.”

It wasn’t just Williams employees taken aback by the height.  Hamill remembers the reaction of some school children that were given a tour and taken to one of the top floors.  “The windows are floor to ceiling and not all the furniture was in.  A couple of the kids walked to the edge of the floor and they were 600 feet up in the air and involuntarily jumped back.”

The building has also aged well.  Hamill says “I haven’t been in it recently but the last time I was in it, it looked as fresh in many ways as it did the day we cut the ribbon and first walked into it.”

In 1977 the BOK Tower was really quite something for Tulsa.  Hamill says “Oh, I think it still something for Tulsa in 2011.