River West Festival Park

[SXSW]

Per the article in today's TW:

Upcoming is the renovation of River West Festival Park, the longtime home of Oktoberfest.  Officials are scheduled to break ground on the newly    designed park following Oktoberfest 2011.

I don't have any renderings but I do know it's being designed by LandPlan Consultants, the Tulsa-based landscape architecture firm that also designed the QuikTrip park at 41st & Riverside and the new trails in Riverparks.  As renderings/plans become available we can discuss them here.

I'd like to see the amphitheatre renovated and expanded, and the 'floating stage' removed.  From what I've heard the Corps is planning on filling in the cove which is a good thing.  If they aren't going to end filling it in at least tear out the jetty so that the natural flow of the water can get back there and prevent trash/debris from getting stuck.  While it isn't part of this redesign, it would be amazing to see the Mid-Continent concrete plant to the south acquired by the city to double the size of the park. 

Dual trails like what they have built on the east bank will be built on the west bank from the pedestrian bridge to Festival Park.  It would be nice to see a boardwalk of some kind closer to the river, like what they have done at this new riverfront park in Washington DC:




and better landscaping like this closer to the water around the amphitheatre:



and a new boathouse for TU and Tulsa Rowing Club, like what they have proposed but larger and with big east-facing windows (especially if they could land a corporate sponsor):



There is a lot of potential for this to be one of Tulsa's best parks in the future!

[SXSW]

Not to compare ourselves to OKC but this is their newest boathouse under construction, very contemporary:


and their plan for Boathouse Row with Chesapeake, OCU, UCO, and OU all having boathouses next to each other:


Not saying we should replicate this but it is a cool plan and a more contemporary design would be nice for our boathouse, IMO.  Also Festival Park could be designed around the boathouse and amphitheatre better than it is now.

[Gaspar]

Satan's Boathouse

[Conan71]

TRC's boathouse was expanded to three bays this last winter, unfortunately cosmetic upgrades like the 2004 rendering you have found was not possible at this time.  TU left the west bank several years back after they completed their new boat house out past Catoosa on Rte. 66 adjacent to the navigation channel.  No amount of upgrades will bring TU back to the Arkansas, IMO as the varying river levels play hell with getting out on the water.  There's also pretty good buffering from the wind on the navigation channel vs. the Arkansas.

To give you an idea of the difference in cost basis, the TRC expansion with a third bay was brought in for under $100K.  Chesapeake in OKC was built for between $3.2 and $3.6mm with a nice donation from Chesapeake Energy.  The new Devon boathouse is reputed to be in the $10mm range and I believe this is the house the US Rowing training center will occupy along with OCU.

Chesapeake gave UCO $3.5mm plus an anonymous donor gave $500K earlier this year for one called the CHK/Central Boathouse which will be going in.  OU was planning a new boathouse on the lower part of the river, but I've not heard what their recent plans are.  They have been using the Exchange Boathouse on the upper lock of the Okla. River the last couple of years.

In order to make this happen, OKC had several things in it's favor: three universities with rowing programs, a stable water level, and relatively benign current in addition to some great corporate sponsors.  We had some people working on talking to SEM before they imploded.  It would have been a great fit.  As it is, the TRC has some very generous donors, but no one has jumped in with a multi-million dollar donation all at once.  As of now the TRC is working to add new equipment now that the expansion is complete there.

It's been bantered about that TRC could move to Jenks once a low water dam is put in there, but with varying discharges from the Corps, I still don't see where there would be more stable water level downstream.

[SXSW]

Interesting.  A larger redesign of the park that includes the Mid-Con plant could include an expansion of the boathouse.  I would think the river and skyline views alone would make it desirable for events in addition to housing the rowing club.  I'm interested to see what the plans are for the cove/lagoon.  If they filled this in the banks would make a good place for a boardwalk/trail that comes right up to the water with the new dual trail going around the 'old' cove.

[Conan71]

Mid-Con is incredibly stupid money regardless of the existing economic conditions. The price per acre is primo downtown LA, NYC, or Vegas priced or even higher. That was one of my biggest objections to the river tax debacle. Unknown people being further enriched by commoners. If it was a good investment, someone would have snapped it up.

[Vision 2025]

Nice pictures, with interesting concepts, especially the wave attenuation blocks on the sea wall!

A few points.  

Dewberry Design Group was selected by the City and River Parks for design of the West bank festival park, LandPlan is not part of that project team.

The CORPS has never said a word about filling in the lagoon (why would they it is a local feature and not part of their jurisdiction) but there is no argument in the need to improve the water quality in that locale.

TU's rowing program moved to the navigation channel (which provides an interesting venue with it's own challenges) and as stated previously I also don't expect them to return as in addition to flow/launching issues which will be partially mitigated by the planned improvements on of the main issues to collegiate rowing is that Zink provides too short of a venue.  With that said I'm really happy the Tulsa Rowing Club is still active on Zink and hopefully will continue to expand their excellent programs.

[we vs us]

Interesting.  A larger redesign of the park that includes the Mid-Con plant could include an expansion of the boathouse.  I would think the river and skyline views alone would make it desirable for events in addition to housing the rowing club.  I'm interested to see what the plans are for the cove/lagoon.  If they filled this in the banks would make a good place for a boardwalk/trail that comes right up to the water with the new dual trail going around the 'old' cove.

I've never understood why so much prime river real estate has been given over to refineries, general industry, and subsidized housing.  You'd think the Arkansas would be lined with apartment complexes like Westport and other upperscale housing stock.  Has Tulsa essentially ceded the west bank of the river to whatever wants to be there? 

BTW, SXSW, you have some of the best image searching skills I've yet seen.  Kudos for the visuals!

[Vision 2025]

I've never understood why so much prime river real estate has been given over to refineries, general industry, and subsidized housing.  You'd think the Arkansas would be lined with apartment complexes like Westport and other upperscale housing stock.  Has Tulsa essentially ceded the west bank of the river to whatever wants to be there? 

BTW, SXSW, you have some of the best image searching skills I've yet seen.  Kudos for the visuals!

Nothing has been given over; they own it and have for a very long time. 

In the history of Tulsa the refineries have essentially been there since dirt (unverified, but I have been told that at one time there were 5 refineries which morphed into what we have now).  Overall, the west side of the river became the industrial part of Tulsa to support the oil industry further southwest (easier to cross the river with people than heavy goods at that time) Additionally, at that time in history rivers everywhere were industrial dumping grounds weather for runoff, discharges or burial of debris in low areas that were unusable for anything else.
 

[dbacks fan]

Nothing has been given over; they own it and have for a very long time. 

In the history of Tulsa the refineries have essentially been there since dirt (unverified, but I have been told that at one time there were 5 refineries which morphed into what we have now).  Overall, the west side of the river became the industrial part of Tulsa to support the oil industry further southwest (easier to cross the river with people than heavy goods at that time) Additionally, at that time in history rivers everywhere were industrial dumping grounds weather for runoff, discharges or burial of debris in low areas that were unusable for anything else.
 

Also the refineries were built there since the railyard was there. In Bob Gregory's book "Oil In Oklahoma" he stated that if the railyard was in Sand Springs instead of Tulsa the cities would have developed much differently since the fields were in that area and west of there.

[Vision 2025]

Also the refineries were built there since the railyard was there. In Bob Gregory's book "Oil In Oklahoma" he stated that if the railyard was in Sand Springs instead of Tulsa the cities would have developed much differently since the fields were in that area and west of there.

Likely very true and that is an excellent book.

[SXSW]

Nice pictures, with interesting concepts, especially the wave attenuation blocks on the sea wall!

A few points.  

Dewberry Design Group was selected by the City and River Parks for design of the West bank festival park, LandPlan is not part of that project team.

The CORPS has never said a word about filling in the lagoon (why would they it is a local feature and not part of their jurisdiction) but there is no argument in the need to improve the water quality in that locale.

TU's rowing program moved to the navigation channel (which provides an interesting venue with it's own challenges) and as stated previously I also don't expect them to return as in addition to flow/launching issues which will be partially mitigated by the planned improvements on of the main issues to collegiate rowing is that Zink provides too short of a venue.  With that said I'm really happy the Tulsa Rowing Club is still active on Zink and hopefully will continue to expand their excellent programs.

I thought I had seen LandPlan was doing the design work, maybe that was just the trails.  Too bad, they do great work though I'm sure Dewberry will do a fine job.  Do you have access to any of their renderings or are they still working on the design?  I really like what they have done with the Anacostia River Park in DC and think something similar that provides more direct access to the water would be really cool at Festival Park.  Just look at what a huge hit Quiktrip Park has been at 41st.  Imagine something similar with the playgrounds and water features but on a much larger scale with better river and skyline views.  I think it would rival Woodward and LaFortune as one of the city's most used parks and would be a great setting for more concerts and festivals.

Another good model, Zilker Park in Austin


Brooklyn Bridge Park in NYC


Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle


and I really like the design of the retaining walls at this park in Ohio

[SXSW]

I noticed this weekend that the new dual west bank river trail appears to be finished between the 21st Street bridge and the boathouse.  The new trail is great, but then it stops.  Is the plan still to continue it all the way to the SW Blvd bridge?  I noticed the section between the Pedestrian Bridge and 21st Street bridge is still under construction.

I'm still hoping the Mid-Con plant can be incorporated into a larger River West Festival Park with an expanded 'natural' amphitheatre similar to Auditorium Shores in Austin that gently slopes toward river.  The capacity for such an amphiteatre would be much larger than the current one that is rarely used and needs to be torn down.  Meandering paths, gardens, sand volleyball pits, and an enlarged boathouse that offers scull and kayak rentals would be nice additions, and would make Festival Park more of a draw outside of festivals like Oktoberfest.

[Conan71]

I noticed this weekend that the new dual west bank river trail appears to be finished between the 21st Street bridge and the boathouse.  The new trail is great, but then it stops.  Is the plan still to continue it all the way to the SW Blvd bridge?  I noticed the section between the Pedestrian Bridge and 21st Street bridge is still under construction.

I'm still hoping the Mid-Con plant can be incorporated into a larger River West Festival Park with an expanded 'natural' amphitheatre similar to Auditorium Shores in Austin that gently slopes toward river.  The capacity for such an amphiteatre would be much larger than the current one that is rarely used and needs to be torn down.  Meandering paths, gardens, sand volleyball pits, and an enlarged boathouse that offers scull and kayak rentals would be nice additions, and would make Festival Park more of a draw outside of festivals like Oktoberfest.

SXSW- I think your talent and vision is being wasted on your current occupation.    They need someone like you at INCOG where you might actually be able to affect innovative development.

[SXSW]

Thanks Conan.  I would love to be on a citizens committee for INCOG, if such a committee existed.  I am on the Tulsa Parks master plan committee..  I'm just worried that "Arkansas River Development" to some means turning the Mid-Con plant into apartments and retail.  I really don't want to see that happen because I think it holds more value to Tulsa as a park/festival space.  Redevelop Westport into higher density apartments/condos first.  River development does not mean creating Riverwalk Crossing in Tulsa, it's building on our existing assets like River Parks and specifically Festival Park which could be a fantastic riverfront park rivaling anything in other cities.  I'm serious, with the view and the right mix of amenities like a new amphitheatre and boathouse and a better overall park design Festival Park could be up there with riverfront parks in Austin, Pittsburgh, Washington, NYC..