A US$33m (£20.7m, 23.6m euro) museum of Oklahoma popular culture is being planned for Tulsa.

Bob Blackburn, executive director of The Oklahoma Historical Society - the organisation behind the plans - said that it will seek a US$25m bond issue from next year's legislature, leaving around US$m to be raised from private sources. US$1m has already been pledged by the George Kaiser Family Foundation.

Despite the current economic climate, Blackburn said that they "can't pull back".

"We started talking about the Oklahoma History Center in 1991, when we were still in the recession from the 1980s," he said. "We were furloughing employees when we raised the last of the money to open in it 2003."

Three sites have been considered for the museum, but no decision has been made as yet. Once funding is in place, the work is expected to take around three years.