At first glance, a visitor may not notice one of the most unique aspects of the Mid-Continent Tower.  Surprisingly enough, the Mid-Continent Tower is in fact two buildings.  The 16-story Mid-Continent Building was completed in 1918.  The 36-story Mid-Continent Tower was completed in 1984...65 years later. 

Because the original structure was not strong enough to support the weight of an additional 20 floors, "cantilever" design was used to suspend the new Tower over the older building at the 16th floor level.  The two structures do not touch.  The Tower rises 20 stories above and extends 40 feet horizontally over the older 16-story building.  Deeper and wider steel trusses in the construction of the 16th and 17th floors of the Tower and a foundation of 120 feet deep carry the burden of the cantilevered floors. 

In order to sustain continuity of the original Tudor Gothic design, more than 85,000 pieces of terra cotta panels, spires, cornices and moldings were produced for the exterior façade.  At the time of the Tower's construction, the only manufacturer of terra cotta in the United States was located in California.  Terra cotta is fired, glazed clay material somewhat like a ceramic tile.  Elaborately ornamental, each hand-crafted and hand-cast piece is a work of art.

Marble panels to match the existing interior walls were carefully selected in integrating the two structures.  Three different types of marble used in the Tower came from Italy.  Calcutta Vagli Rosatta marble graces the walls and columns.  A marble called Roman Travertine covers the walls of the rest rooms.  The accents and trim are Verde Antique.  Two colors of marble from Tennessee make up the lobby's floor - Craig Rose and Rose Gray.

True to a neo-gothic approach, the artist used the design motif of those standards in the various stained glass pieces throughout the tower.  In the lobby, a panoramic view of the Tulsa skyline, from the Boston Avenue Church to the Bank of Oklahoma Tower, is recreated in stained glass.

The stained glass dome that forms a ceiling over the three-story spiral staircase, which connects the top three floors of the Tower, looks like a giant Louis B. Tiffany lamp.

Another dramatic feature of the building is the two-story high "colonnade" entrance which is formed by four terra cotta arches.