The downtown Tulsa building lost its windows in the June 2004 storm

20 years ago today gale-force winds rocked the 11-story steel and glass curtain wall on the east side of the 15-story WilTel Technology Center in downtown Tulsa.

Miraculously, no one was injured in the partial collapse of the curtain wall. It is 264 feet long, 216 feet high, and 20 feet deep, extending from the fourth floor to the roof. More than 70 panes of glass were shaken or displaced during the storm.

Technology Center employees and observers on the ground told investigators that the curtain wall began to sway back and forth in a wave-like motion during strong winds.

Suddenly, the curtain wall’s structural framing system failed, sending dozens of 8-by-4-by-4-by-4-foot glass panels tumbling more than 60 feet down Cincinnati Avenue at First Street lower.

“It’s very fortunate there was no one on the street,” said Jack Page, director of permits and inspections for the Tulsa Department of Public Works, who surveyed the damage a few hours later. “There was glass all over the street.”

The glass-walled building was later renamed One Technology Center and in September 2007, it was purchased by the City of Tulsa.