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11545 E 43rd St, Tulsa, 74146 - (918) 663-5820

Venue Review: Damien Garza

I stopped in this weekend to visit the venue, located in East Tulsa; the building is an unassuming, basic building in the middle of a former soccer field. The lobby is more or less geared for the home builders association which is clear by the plaques and more of an "office feel" nothing really romantic or elegant at all. There are men's and woman's restrooms which were clean and well maintained. There was a upstairs but it was not used during events. Both back that lead into the building from the back parking lot had a sign "do not open" on them which seemed odd as this is really the only way in from the back parking lot unless you walk all the way around the building from the outside.

When you enter the reception area you first notice a large room. The couple for the wedding on Saturday did a great job on making the room appear more elegant then it was before they arrived I can assume. There is a bar area which is basic, has a lot of flexible uses to it and was fairly clean. The kitchenette (not a full size commercial kitchen by any means) was also aged, had a few stoves but all were very outdated. The full size refrigerator was a good size but was packed full and there were coolers for the wedding full of food that would not fit in the refrigerator.

I tested the lighting in the room. There was florescent lighting, as well as par can lighting. The florescent lights were turned off for this event and I did turn on all the lights. The lighting controls were very confusing and took a few minutes to get right and set the mood again, there could be a few more labels to tell one how to operate them.

There was a DJ setting up and we asked him about the venue, the comment was made that the only complaint he had was that the electric outlets were much worn and the plugs needed to be re-done. The stage was being used for the setup of the DJ and the head table out front and tables arranged nicely in a "V" shape on both sides. We did notice it was rather warm in the building and checked on the air conditioner and it was not working on this day.

Overall we give this facility a 5 out of 10 rating.

The Good:

Great capacity – 400 seated and standing

Great Location

Great Parking, not sure about 400 cars though.

The Downs:

Vendors complained of electrical problems

Dirty Bar Area and kitchen was not cleaned

Floor could use a refinish

Lighting needed to be updated.

Could use a repaint and some updates.

Overall this is a nice venue, not the best in Tulsa but it is rented for a fairly decent rate and the venue stays out of your way.

When we called to talk with the venue Marlana at the homebuilders to comment on the story, she didn't really seem interested in our questions but was nice and basically said more or less…"if brides want to rent this they can come see it, but we have no plans to remodel as the building is here and if they use it great if not great".  She also did state that the building used a "boiler" system to heat and cool the venue and that if the weather was hot and the A/C was not turned out (which can't be done immediately) that the air conditioner did not work. So if you are having a "Oklahoma wedding" be sure to check the weather and call them to either turn on the A/C or HEAT that week depending on your date.

Conclusion: You make the call. You won't pay for customer service at the Home Builders but you do get a cheap big building to have your reception in.

Also updated March 2008 the Tulsa HBA no longer allows alcohol on site.

11545 E 43rd St, Tulsa, 74146 - (918) 663-5820

mturley@tulsahba.com