Runnymede Hotel - Alva, Oklahoma

Renovation Committee

The Runnymede Renovation Commyittee was formed in Fabruary of 1998, when the they owner, the Denner family, listed the building for sale. In November of that year, the Runnymede was purchased by the Nescatunga Arts Council with the plans of renovation. The leader of this effort was Dale Brown, president of the Arts Council. She formed a committee that began working on plans and money for the renovation.

In January, 1999, the Restoration Committee received a grant from the Morton Share Trust to pay for the structural stabilization of the building. Public meetings to discuss its use were held during the summer of 1999, and,during the winter of 1999-2000, interior lathe and plaster was removed to determine where structural work was needed. Men from the nearby Bill Johnson Correctional Center assisted in this phase of the work.

Dale Brown died in the fall of 1999, but the success of the Restoration Committee was a testimony to the good choices she made in getting good people to serve on the committee. The Runnymede Restoration Committee co-consisted of Scott Brown, Ken Brown, Billie Buckles, Jack Fisher, Joy Glass, Barbara Gordon, Jim and Melba Richey, and Richard Ryerson. Jim Richey, an Alva artist, served as chairman of the Restoration Committee and helped build the unique and beautiful arches inside, and trim on the porch and posts on the front of the building.

In addition to a modern kitchen and rest rooms an elevator was added plus a storage area used by the Nescatunga Arts and Humanities. Construction began in July, 2004 and continued through 2005. Roy Easley from Enid served as the architect and R.T. Grant Construction of Hardtner, Kansas was the contractor.

View photos of the renovation here.