The City of Tulsa is soliciting proposals (RFP) for a Technology and Curatorial Consultant to develop an extended reality (XR) based, digital storytelling product to enrich user experience along Tulsa’s Route 66 corridor.

Envisioned to engage both local and tourist audiences, the Interactive Experience will be hosted on Visit Tulsa’s

website and should be compatible with Android and iOS operating systems. Users would scan QR codes or other means of access posted at identified sites along Route 66 that emblematize the unique history of Tulsa and the Mother Road.

The issuance of this RFP comes after two corresponding RFPs were issued earlier this year. The first sought proposals for a commercial development at 815 S. Riverside, offering up to $4.5 million in incentives to help create an economically viable project to be located at the site. The second RFP was issued for a placemaking Roadside Attraction, or public artwork installation, at the same site. The winning proposal for the Roadside Attraction at 815 S. Riverside Drive is expected to be announced in August.

As it relates to the Interactive Experience, the installation is envisioned as a series of site-specific, multi-media monuments that tell the story of Route 66 via extended reality and other technology features. This series of installations will immerse participants in the Mother Road overlaying layers of visual or auditory information integrated with the built environment. Intended to enrich the user’s understanding of their surroundings, this Interactive Experience will reimagine the urban fabric of Route 66 as a flourishing corridor via digital storytelling.

A pre-proposal conference is scheduled for Friday, July 26 at 10:00 AM CDT, and all proposals are due by August 28, 2024. Please contact Donny Tiemann for an invitation, [email protected].   

Prior to submission, the consultant is expected to conduct significant architectural, historic, and cultural site research along Tulsa’s two Historic Route 66 alignments, including but not limited to archival study, interviews, and on-site documentation.

This research will provide content for the Technology and Curatorial Consultant to create a series of 20 site-specific, immersive installations that overlay visual or auditory information with the built environment of the Mother Road.

Intended to enrich the user’s understanding of their surroundings, this project ultimately will reimagine Route 66 by highlighting history and present-day places, as well as creatively forecast a flourishing future for this corridor. The period of significance is 1926 – 1959, though research may explore materials that pre-date the Mother Road or describe contemporary Route 66 attractions.

For more information about Route 66 in Tulsa, including information on all of the recently issued RFPs, visit www.cityoftulsa.org/Route66. 

For more information on this RFP and other bids, visit www.cityoftulsa.org/bids.