Renovations underway at First Christian Church in Bartlesville

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. — Renovation is finally underway at the historic First Christian Church building in Bartlesville.

The church has been a staple in Bartlesville since it opened in 1897.

First Christian Church had it's last service in April of 2022 and sold the building to the city.

Buffalo Roam now owns the historic church and plans to turn it into a film school, which the City of Bartlesville approved last year.

Jeff Smith, owner of Buffalo Roam Studios, says the last year has been filled with paperwork and conversations.

"We are kind of on a speaking tour, talking to the people in the industry to make sure what we build out is applicable to what they actually need," said Smith.

Phase one renovations, which is getting the building up to code, is underway.

"That means that we are putting all new electricity and light safety, things like sprinklers and fire alarms. Once that’s done, we will go into the phase of actually doing the remodeling," said Smith.

Smith says the biggest change to the First Christian Church will be a new building next to the historic church.

"Which will be a certified sound stage that will give us three stages total, so we are will be making content," said Smith.

He says Buffalo Roam won't be making movies, they are teaching people how to make films and providing them resources.

"We are simply giving them the space, the tools, the people. We are helping them make their vision, we aren’t actually making the movies," said Smith.

The building was perfect for the film school. The plan is to use the office space for meetings, host large gathering in the chapel and use the sound stages for teaching, all without removing any walls.

"Not because we can’t but because we have found that we don’t need to," said Smith.

He hopes by not making major changes to the building, they will be able to preserve the history because the church has been a staple in Bartlesville for years.

The renovations will be done in three parts, with the goal of being done by the end of next year.