Leon Russell memorabilia collection donated to proposed OK Pop Museum in Tulsa

Reporters are reflected in the sunglasses of Leon Russell as he answers a question at a news conference in Tulsa, Okla., Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. The Oklahoma Historical Society has acquired a large collection of works by the legendary musician and native Oklahoman that are intended for display in a planned pop culture museum in Tulsa. (AP Photo)

TULSA – Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Leon Russell returned to “Home Sweet Oklahoma” Tuesday for a press conference where it was announced that Houston oilman Steve Todoroff is donating a collection of more than 4,500 pieces of Leon Russell memorabilia to the proposed Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture in Tulsa.

The donation is contingent on the state’s coming up with a $42.5 million bond issue to build the museum, called OK POP, reports the Tulsa World’s Wayne Greene.

Russell, a Lawton native who grew up in Tulsa and pioneering rock ‘n’ roll’s Tulsa Sound, said he was pleased with the plans to include him and other popular Oklahoma performers in a museum so close to his former haunts in the Brady Arts District.

“I normally get arrested in this area, and now I’ve got a museum,” Russell said.

The Oklahoma Historical Society has been lobbying for the project for years, Wayne reports. Last year, the state Senate approved a bond issue for the plan, but the proposal died in the state House.