Debi Martin
The Dean A. McGee Award recognizes individuals for a lifetime of contributions, ensuring that Oklahoma City has a strong, energetic core. The award is named after Dean A. McGee, an Oklahoma City business leader who chaired the Kerr-McGee Corporation from 1963 to 1983 and led efforts to construct the Myriad Gardens. He was extremely passionate about developing downtown as a gathering place for future generations. Rand Elliott, the 2022 Dean A. McGee Award recipient, has transformed downtown above and below ground. As one of the earliest modern-day visionaries to reimagine downtown’s historic buildings and places, he redesigned downtown’s Conncourse into The Underground with contemporary, bright lighting, design and functionality, restored the Vesper Building in Automobile Alley, renovated a Bricktown warehouse into a cool art bar for four young doctors, created the Beacon of Hope in Stiles Park, transformed the Mid-Continent Life Insurance Building into the Gaylord Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum, redesigned Bicentennial Park in front of the Civic Center Music Hall, and revived downtown’s most famous flatiron-style building, which won Interior Design Magazine’s Best of Year Award. Elliott’s most recent downtown achievements are the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center at the north gateway into downtown and Heartland Headquarters at 5th and Broadway. Approaching downtown from the south, Elliott’s world-class designs for all eight buildings and structures of the Boathouse District contributed to elevating the city’s status as a premier Olympic river sport venue. His firm, Rand Elliott Architects, has been honored with 10 national architectural awards by the American Institute of Architects, and 384 international, national, regional and local awards. In 2006, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Interior Design magazine. The Stanley Draper Award is presented to an outstanding nonprofit staff member, volunteer or non-elected government employee who has made an enduring impact on
downtown. The award is named after city visionary Stanley Draper, a long-time Greater Oklahoma City Chamber executive who inspired everyone to dream impossible dreams and was known as the country’s greatest “city builder.” Debi Martin, the 2022 Stanley Draper Award honoree, exemplifies a relentless model city employee with a getit-done attitude. Martin has been City Hall’s steadfast educator and resource for incoming mayors, city council members and city executives since 1990 when named City Council Chief of Staff. She served as the city liaison to assist with relocating the Oklahoma City Museum of Arts March/April 2022 ion Oklahoma 81
