Will Rogers Park

[Praedura]

Strangely, there appears to be no thread for this park, so I'll start one here with...

some nice pics:











photos by Dan Davis

[Praedura]

Also, there's a nice little review of it here:

Will Rogers Garden

[poe]

Nice pics. I love Will Rogers Park. I've never had the opportunity to see it in full bloom, but nonetheless, I still love it.

[HangryHippo]

Wow, that looks like a nice little park. Where is this?

[Praedura]

Wow, that looks like a nice little park. Where is this?

Burns Flat.

But seriously.... it's at 36th and Portland.



I'm pretty sure I went to this park a few times as a kid, but it was so long ago. I need to stop by again and have a fresh look.

[Praedura]

A nice springtime shot:



photo by alleyoop321

Similar view in summer:



photo by Austrian Lancer

[Dubya61]

... and (attn: 1972Ford) I'm pretty sure there's a disc golf course, too.

[metro]

Wow, that looks like a nice little park. Where is this?

It's no little park, is fairly good sized. Used to be the most popular park in OKC.

[Larry OKC]

The OP pics look great. Granted it is probably the sky being reflected, but too bad I have never seen the water appear blue like that. it is usually red-dirt brown. Reminds me of the the pics usually shown of the blue water in the Canal (every time I have seen it, it is decidedly green, and since it is City Water, they are purposely adding the green color to it). The later pics posted are more accurate as to water color.

All that said, Will Rogers is a nice, good sized park that is well used. The pics posted are showing just part of the Rose Garden area. it has tennis courts, pub;ic swimming pool, frisbee golf course, picnic tables, a couple of shelters that can be reserved, on the other side of the highway, there is 1 or 2 soccer field(s) and the party house that can be reserved, playground equipment....

[HangryHippo]

It kind of reminds me of a park in Madrid that I used to visit. It would be great if more of our parks looked like this.

[PennyQuilts]

It's a very nice park and has been around for a very long time. It is an historic land place and they offer free workshops there. I love the tree section - lots of native Oklahoma trees along the walkway. Really a nice little slice of nature, close in and easy to get to.

[krisb]

It's a very nice park and has been around for a very long time. It is an historic land place and they offer free workshops there. I love the tree section - lots of native Oklahoma trees along the walkway. Really a nice little slice of nature, close in and easy to get to.

Easy to get to by automobile. I live two blocks away on the west side of Portland and it's not safe to cross the street on foot. It is a lovely gem of historic green space, though.

[CCOKC]

It also has a very nice tennis center with I think 24 courts. When I used to play a lot of tennis I traveled to other cities in the Missouri Valley area (that is our USTA region) to play tournaments. It was amazing how many people loved coming here to play in tournaments because the entire tournament could be played in one place instead of being spread out all over the place. Even St Louis and KC did not have a facility as nice as ours.

I love this park and have been visiting since I was a kid. Does anyone know when the work on the conservatory will be completed?

[Architect2010]

Easy to get to by automobile. I live two blocks away on the west side of Portland and it's not safe to cross the street on foot. It is a lovely gem of historic green space, though.

Well the area that this park and you are located isn't exactly a pedestrian utopia... it was designed for vehicular access. It really is easy to get to though. I live on the south-side and the park's location off the highway makes it very convenient. One of my favorite parks in the city.

[PennyQuilts]

Easy to get to by automobile. I live two blocks away on the west side of Portland and it's not safe to cross the street on foot. It is a lovely gem of historic green space, though.

Fair enough - you be careful crossing the street!

[OSUMom]

... and (attn: 1972Ford) I'm pretty sure there's a disc golf course, too.

A very nice disc golf course. I used to play it all the time. I've only played a few others but most of them were flat and uninteresting. This one has lots of hills and trees. A stream. Things that made the course pretty and interesting. The convience store across Portland from the park sells disc golf supplies.

[JohnH_in_OKC]

For those of us over 55, there is a senior center at the park which offers many activities. I think one of our new MAPS Senior Aquatic Centers could be co-located there and reduce the cost of building one aquatic center, because the existing center already has an exercise floor but I don't think the walls are high enough for basketball. Maybe an indoor basketball court could be added adjacently to the existing building & possible future indoor pool. The senior center is next door to the Will Rogers Park's Oklahoma City Tennis Center, but I don't think many seniors use the Will Rogers tennis courts because there's a usage charge ($8 per hour). All of our other city parks have free tennis courts -- first-come, first-served.

Reiterating, I think Will Rogers Park would be an ideal location for one of our new MAPS Senior Aquatic Centers.

Here's the link explaining the Oklahoma City's Health & Wellness Senior Centers. It is one of our MAPS 3 Projects.

Here's a link to the Will Rogers Senior Citizen Center. The link lists many of the center's activities.

[Larry OKC]

Saying the Senior Center is "next door" to the Tennis facility may give folks the wrong location. The buildings are no where near each other (separated by the the tennis courts themselves). But I agree, if they could just expand on the existing center, seems like a good location as it seems to be well used. you mnetioned the usage charge...have to remember that they aren't planning on the MAPS 3 ones to be free of charge for Seniors. A point that I think a lot of folks didn't catch if they voted for them.

[mugofbeer]

If I had $ a billion, I'd buy the land back that houses that POS shopping center on the south side of Will Rogers park and revert it back to park land. I recall it was very controversial at the time and it has proven to be a real eyesore.

[1972ford]

I frequent the disc golf course here often although since they removed a lot of the trees I play more at dolese. Dolese is a nice park as well with trails fishing ball fields playground and an awesome disc golf course. But the city still needs a few more disc golf courses as popularity of the sport has really grown exponentially in the last 5 years for all age groups regardless of gender or race.

[krisb]

If I had $ a billion, I'd buy the land back that houses that POS shopping center on the south side of Will Rogers park and revert it back to park land. I recall it was very controversial at the time and it has proven to be a real eyesore.

No kidding. The owner's name is Charles Shadid, not sure if there is any relationship...