Gathering Place for Tulsa will be world-class park

[soonerfan_in_okc]

Good God plutonic panda, I don't even know where to start.

As a kid growing up in OKC (not edmond, or moore, or norman, but okc), I remember when our downtown was a pile of empty buildings and would imagine what it would look like if we got another tower. We have alot of NEW momentum going for us, yes, but lets not act like it has been that way forever. Tulsa for a long time has had the money to get past there ****ty city government, and you need to look no further than Utica park. OKC has nothing like that and quite frankly we never will. We can try to turn Classen curve into it, but its not. You cant build the look and feel of a well aged outdoor mall. Next you should drive around areas like swan lake, brookside, and all the neighborhoods in between. Aside from manuvering around an art museum that visually puts any in OKC to shame (philbrook) you will notice that those areas of town have been well kept for years.

Also, I just moved to Tulsa from OKC and have never experienced any of the animosity you speak off. Quite frankly the way you approached this thread in an attacking manner leads me to believe that you may have been the instigator in those conversations. OKC has PLENTY of really rough areas you and any other person from the OKC area need to convince your city government fix out before you worry about the problems of tulsa (10th street, lyerwood, segments of NE and SW okc). I imagine though that you tend to avoid those areas.

Both cities are great, and have positives that out weigh each other. OKC is fortunate to be the capital of the state and have a major university just 20 minutes south as well as 2 minutes east, and Tulsa is one of the most philanthropic cities in america (much more so than okc, just check out the united way campaigns). How about we build each other up instead of tear each other down?

[Plutonic Panda]

I'm actually just about to leave to drive to Tulsa right now. I go there all the time. It is a crappy city man. I'm sorry to have to say it, but the place absolutely sucks.

I give credit where it is due, and while Tulsa has a few(and I use that word strongly) nice venues, nearly the whole city is littered with horrible streets and parking craters.

I'm not going to get into another pointless debate about this. Tulsa will grow and is already looking at a few nice developments. Hopefully it works out for them.

[Plutonic Panda]

Groundbreaking ceremony for 'A Gathering Place for Tulsa' scheduled for Sept. 20 - KJRH.com

[Plutonic Panda]

Gathering Place groundbreaking is Saturday - Tulsa World: Gatheringplace

[Plutonic Panda]

Proposed facility for A Gathering Place has some residents upset - Tulsa World: Gatheringplace

[Plutonic Panda]

Construction begins on Tulsa's newest park - News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |

[Plutonic Panda]

Dirt-moving begins for Gathering Place - Tulsa World: Gatheringplace

[Spartan]

What kind of development is going to be catalyzed around this site? Tulsa has limited growth opportunities...

[Plutonic Panda]

What kind of development is going to be catalyzed around this site? Tulsa has limited growth opportunities...

Are they going to develop around the park? I thought they were going to try and keep it secluded at least somewhat.

[Spartan]

So Tulsa continues to flounder on development.

[Plutonic Panda]

So Tulsa continues to flounder on development.

Well, I could be wrong. I'll have to dig up the link, but I swore I saw somewhere that they were creating a buffer zone around the park so development wouldn't happen, but if someone knows otherwise, please correct me. In the meantime, I'll see if I can track down where I read that, but it was earlier this year, so it might take me a minute,

[BG918]

What kind of development is going to be catalyzed around this site? Tulsa has limited growth opportunities...

Well there are existing historic neighborhoods to the north and east, and the river to the west. Downtown is two miles to the north and will be directly connected to the park via the Midland Valley trail, which is popular with joggers and bikers since it connects downtown, Cherry Street and midtown neighborhoods to the river trails. The area around the trail just north of 21st Street will be ripe for new development, similar to how the Katy Trail has spurred new projects and restaurants in Dallas.

The area that is targeted for new higher density residential development is at the south end along Crow Creek. There will be a new trail along the creek that connects this development to the Brookside corridor a half mile to the east.


The park will be located next to the Pedestrian Bridge where the Midland Valley trail crosses the river.

[Rover]

That photo compresses the view and kind of makes it look closer to downtown than it will be, doesn't it?

The area to the immediate east is pretty established modest single family housing is it not? Also, isn't pretty immediately across the river a refinery?

While this could be a great park, it isn't ideal for easy access to much of Tulsa and isn't in a particularly dense area.

Are they damming up the river as part of this? Otherwise, the riverbed is exposed alot. Would be much prettier with good low water dam system.

tulsa.jpg

[Snowman]

That photo compresses the view and kind of makes it look closer to downtown than it will be, doesn't it?

The area to the immediate east is pretty established modest single family housing is it not? Also, isn't pretty immediately across the river a refinery?

While this could be a great park, it isn't ideal for easy access to much of Tulsa and isn't in a particularly dense area.

Are they damming up the river as part of this? Otherwise, the riverbed is exposed alot. Would be much prettier with good low water dam system.

tulsa.jpg

I think they did finally work a deal, though I think it was separate from this to fix the dam, I want to say TIF but not totally sure.

[BG918]

I think they did finally work a deal, though I think it was separate from this to fix the dam, I want to say TIF but not totally sure.

Fixing the dam is a separate project that is currently underway. The larger river proposal that some Tulsa city leaders are trying to levy support for involves building two new dams, one in Sand Springs and one in Jenks as well as raising the height of the current dam (by this park) and building a whitewater park there. Those would be part of a MAPS-like vote and not part of this privately funded project.

[Spartan]

How big is the area between the park and 21st Street? I know that a few years ago there was some urban condo development happening on the south side of 21st toward this park...

[BG918]

How big is the area between the park and 21st Street? I know that a few years ago there was some urban condo development happening on the south side of 21st toward this park...

Half mile north to 21st Street. Those rowhomes are on 22nd. There are a few other urban townhomes in that area. think the area between 21st & Boston to 18th & Boston (where there is a small commercial area with a coffee shop, a few bars and restaurants and the best BBQ in the state ) will see more development once the park is finished since it will be directly linked to it by the MV trail. The area along Crow Creek will also see more high density residential which connects to Brookside.

[ljbab728]

The larger river proposal that some Tulsa city leaders are trying to levy support for involves building two new dams, one in Sand Springs and one in Jenks as well as raising the height of the current dam (by this park) and building a whitewater park there. Those would be part of a MAPS-like vote and not part of this privately funded project.

Hmm. I wonder why they would have ever thought about building a whitewater park? LOL

[Swake]

Hmm. I wonder why they would have ever thought about building a whitewater park? LOL

The white water section has been talked about for many years. It was even part of the river package that was voted down back in 2007.

[Swake]

That photo compresses the view and kind of makes it look closer to downtown than it will be, doesn't it?

The area to the immediate east is pretty established modest single family housing is it not? Also, isn't pretty immediately across the river a refinery?

While this could be a great park, it isn't ideal for easy access to much of Tulsa and isn't in a particularly dense area.

Are they damming up the river as part of this? Otherwise, the riverbed is exposed alot. Would be much prettier with good low water dam system.

tulsa.jpg

The park site is just a mile south of the downtown loop and the Cherry Street area and has Riverside running through the middle of it. It’s only five blocks from the Brookside area and Utica Square is just a mile to the east. It’s not hard to get to or isolated and it’s in the wealthiest area of the entire state. The immediate neighborhood is Maple Ridge and it is very established and expensive. The houses right around 31st street are smaller, but I wouldn’t call them modest. Even a small 1500 sq ft house will go for over $200k and the home sizes and prices go up the closer you get to 21st street. At the north end of the park houses can go for $750k or more and houses closer to 21st or on the other side of Peoria go up into the multiple millions. The area for future dense development is where the Place One apartments are today along Crow Creek going up to Peoria and the Brookside area. Currently there are denser town house complexes and a high rise condo building about four blocks to the north of the park. Taking out houses for development might be possible right on Riverside or south of 31st but it will be fought hard by the Maple Ridge and Brookside HOAs.

There is the dam currently at 31st Street so most of the park will have a full river all the time anyway. That dam is undergoing repairs now but needs a full rebuild. The cities along the river are looking at ways redo the current dam and build new dams at 106th Street near Jenks, in Sand Springs and maybe in Broken Arrow and Bixby. The plans do not include water in the river in the area south of 31st, that’s the area where the white water park would be done by narrowing the river and feeding the park water from the dam at 31st. Tulsa, Sand Springs and Jenks voted in favor of the 2007 river project bond issue but the vote failed with oppositions in cities not on the river. The idea now is to find other funding (the feds authorized $100 million for Tulsa river projects almost 10 years ago but have never funded it) or hold a vote for taxes only in the impacted cities.

[BG918]

Tulsa, Sand Springs and Jenks voted in favor of the 2007 river project bond issue but the vote failed with oppositions in cities not on the river. The idea now is to find other funding (the feds authorized $100 million for Tulsa river projects almost 10 years ago but have never funded it) or hold a vote for taxes only in the impacted cities.

I think for the Gathering Place to really live up to its potential the river needs to be addressed as well. Hopefully voters will be more accepting of a future proposal. What is the timeline for any kind of vote? It would be great if at least the Zink Dam rebuild could be complete by the time the park is finished or not long after.

[Spartan]

West bank development would help with that. I liked the island idea, a la Mud Island.

[Dustin]

Cool flyover of the progress!

[TU 'cane]

Pretty slick, thanks for posting.

[Swake]

The Gathering Place project team has fired Tulsa based Manhattan Construction as the Construction Manager for the project and replaced them with Crossland, reportedly over a disagreement on the timeline to build the park.