(PROJECT) QT Park - 41st & Riverside

[Admin]

quote:

The company will pay for a new plaza and playground in River Parks at 41st Street.


When QuikTrip Corp. President Chet Cadieux began brainstorming a few years ago on how the company would commemorate its 50th anniversary this fall, the logical answer was to give something back to the community.

What that gift would be and where to put it was fairly easy to figure out -- adopt an area in River Parks and create a place where families will want to relax and have fun.

After about two years of planning, Cadieux is unveiling a signature plaza and playground designed to be an innovative outdoor environment with unique, flexible space for children's play, special events and all kinds of gatherings for all kinds of people.

The project, which will replace the park's playground and shelter at 41st Street, "is meant to become a destination point for the park," Cadieux said.

Plans are to have
the project completed for a dedication in late September.

Helping parks and kids: Enhancing River Parks is a Cadieux family passion, which started with Cadieux's father, Chester Cadieux, a former longtime member of the River Parks Authority who has been instrumental in the park's growth since 1983.

Helping children, specifically those at risk, also is a core mission behind QuikTrip's philanthropic efforts, the younger Cadieux said.

"Our theory is that if we can make some kind of difference in the life of a child, much less lots of children, then that solves a lot of our society's problems in the next generation," he said.

The plaza and playground, which is estimated to cost $2.5 million to $3 million, is the perfect gift -- meeting both of those objectives and showing QuikTrip's appreciation to Tulsa for its support during the past 50 years, Cadieux said.

QuikTrip is paying for more than half of the project. The remaining funds are coming from other donors, including the George Kaiser Family Foundation.

The public first heard about the project during last fall's river tax initiative, which included the creation of several "gathering spots" in River Parks.

Jim Denny, QuikTrip's vice president of marketing, said Cadieux agreed to merge his idea with the river initiative, which would have resulted in a larger-scale project if voters approved the improvements proposal.

But, when the initiative failed, Cadieux wasn't willing to abandon the idea, Denny said.

Keith Franklin, the president of LandPlan Consultants, which designed the project, said it was scaled back to its original intent, but through the help of additional donors, it added some design elements developed during the river initiative process.

An important element of the gift includes funding for maintenance of the project's many facets.

"We made a commitment that anything we do that causes additional maintenance for River Parks, we would pick up that cost," Denny said.

Park plans: Matt Meyer, the executive director of the River Parks Authority, said it had approved the design for the plaza and playground.

"River Parks is extremely fortunate to have such a generous corporate partner as QuikTrip that is concerned about the quality of life in Tulsa," he said.

Meyer said QuikTrip had worked with the authority throughout the planning.

Authority Chairman Darton Zink said: "The authority couldn't be more pleased with the investment that QuikTrip is making in our park for the community. They have always been a tremendous contributor and great corporate citizen."

Denny said putting together the plan and watching it evolve "has been a blast."

The project will be an interactive park unlike any in Tulsa, incorporating the latest ideas in playground equipment, a variety of interactive water features for toddlers to school-age children, a waterfall, a new shelter, seating areas, restrooms and trail route.

Franklin said the company would join with the city to construct a drainage system that will allow park land to be reclaimed from a drainage ditch that cuts through the area.

The ditch will be filled in and sodded to be made usable, he said.

Plaza: The new plaza will have an arbored entry to a paved open space that will include craftsman architectural-styled shelters and restrooms. The area also will include a fountain accented with special lighting that can be turned off so the area can be used for additional seating for intimate concerts.

A deck will be built near the river's edge to hide a pipe from which stormwater will flow into the river, creating a waterfall. The deck also will serve as a stage.

Playground: The playground will be a focal point, providing an area for toddlers and another for older children.

It will have a rubber safety surface and innovative play equipment by Kompan, a company founded by a sculptural artist and a child development specialist. The playground will accommodate 118 children.

Pyramidal berms will be installed around the playground. The berms not only will block the view of the parking lot, but provide a play area for children or casual seating for adults.

Interactive water features: A children's fountain will be made up of 19 independent, computer-controlled, dancing water jets.

Also planned are five small, raised canal areas, each providing a different interactive element for a variety of ages.

The fountains will include a set of cascading steps, a lazy river for toy boats, a bubbler table for toddlers, dancing arched jets and a geyser fountain for older children.

The fountains' water will be recycled through a chlorination pumping system that will be buried at the site but be accessible for maintenance.

Franklin said the water would be equivalent to pool water and address any health concerns.

New trail route: The improvements to the stormwater drainage area and trail improvements under way at the park will reroute the trail to the front of the plaza. The current pathway stretches behind the shelter near the river's edge.

Signage, pavement markers and tree planters will help mark the trail areas.

"What QuikTrip hopes this project will do is to spur other corporations or foundations to adopt other areas of the park and create something that will entice more people to River Parks," Denny said.

In addition to the George Kaiser Family Foundation, donors to the project include SemGroup, William K. Warren Foundation, Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation, Mary K. Chapman Foundation, Taylor Lobeck Foundation, John Zink Foundation, Bank of Oklahoma, Williams Cos., Nadel & Gussman, Steven and Shelley Jackson Family Foundation, Pete and Nancy Meinig, and Joe and Kathy Craft.



The project includes:


   * An arbored entry, shelter and restroom structures


   * A playground with innovative equipment for toddlers and older children as well as pyramid-shaped berms around it


   * A children's fountain made up of 19 independent, computer-controlled, dancing water jets


   * A series of five canal areas each providing a different interactive element for a variety of ages


   * A rerouted trail to the front of the plaza, instead of its current location behind the shelter near the river's edge

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20080413_1_A1_hrpah72301

[Admin]

For some reason I locked this topic... it's unlocked now...

[waterboy]

The playground area is where the frisbee course starts. That area tends to flood even with light rain. So I wonder if the Frisbee course will survive and if they intend to raise the area for drainage.

[cannon_fodder]

Thanks QT, looks like a great gift to the community.  I know you will be attacked by some people for "buying the naming rights to the empire for which slaves give blood" or some ridiculous nonsense, but I appreciate that companies don't HAVE to give back.  This looks to be a well thought out way to say thank you.

A nod to the Kaiser Foundation also.

[sgrizzle]

Looks cool, just not sure how 118 kids will fit in the playground unless you stack them.

[BierGarten]

This looks great.  I live in that area and will enjoy being able to walk to it.  

I also hope that the 41st and Peoria apartment project goes.  These two projects together would be a big shot in the arm for the Brookside area.

[patric]

The renderings show them using the Kim "Bounce" fixtures for lighting, so that's encouraging.

You can reduce wattage (and electrical costs) when you use Full-cutoff lighting (the "Bounce" lights can be ordered that way) because they are more efficient (not having to waste their output lighting clouds).  

Hopefully they wont make the mistake of over-lamping them, which will only create pools of brightness surrounded by pools of darkness as the eye tries to adapt to inappropriate brightness.

This has the potential to be something really nice if they pull it off.  Loads better than the "pocket parks" with the cold Metal Halide Acorns that look like prison yard smokeholes at night.

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by patric

The renderings show them using the Kim "Bounce" fixtures for lighting, so that's encouraging.

You can reduce wattage (and electrical costs) when you use Full-cutoff lighting (the "Bounce" lights can be ordered that way) because they are more efficient (not having to waste their output lighting clouds).  

Hopefully they wont make the mistake of over-lamping them, which will only create pools of brightness surrounded by pools of darkness as the eye tries to adapt to inappropriate brightness.

This has the potential to be something really nice if they pull it off.  Loads better than the "pocket parks" with the cold Metal Halide Acorns that look like prison yard smokeholes at night.

Those are the same fixtures elsewhere on the revised riverparks, correct?

Someone at Riverparks likes you. Or doesn't completely hate you.

[TheArtist]

Yes I noticed that they are the same lights and appears to even be the same type of stonework that Kaiser is using at places on the renewed trails. Yaaay for consistancy, especially when its well done lol. Will help the parks actually look thought out and classier" versus lots of rinky dink areas all different and haphazardly placed. Will begin to look like the kind of park a real "grown up" city would have. Very well done, Thanks QT and the other donors.

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

Someone at Riverparks likes you. Or doesn't completely hate you.

More likely, someone at Riverparks just got sick and tired of doing the same old c$@p for every new project.
Lighting without glare... hey, that might just catch on!

[Double A]

Looks like this will effectively kill any chance of a 41st Street bridge for vehicular traffic.

[YoungTulsan]

quote:Originally posted by Double A

Looks like this will effectively kill any chance of a 41st Street bridge for vehicular traffic.

Yeah, I wish they could do it off to the side of the 41st street potential path.  I don't guess there are very many of us who are concerned about seeing West Tulsa thrive.

[booWorld]

If the 41st Street bridge is built with abutments similar to the 21st St bridge, then the alignment of 41st could veer to the north of the proposed park.  

aerial view looking east

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by Double A

Looks like this will effectively kill any chance of a 41st Street bridge for vehicular traffic.

Looks that way. Of course, it may not have been feasible in that location due to the land and the drainage in that area. Of course, it blocks the pedestrian bridge too. If they were going to build it, much of this park would be towards the north.

[CoffeeBean]

Another thanks to QT.  Nice to see local corporate giving back/enhancing the community.  

Would be nice to see a smaller structure added that could house a food/drink vendor, but I suppose that could be added later?  

I do agree the project is a setback for any hope of a 41st St. bridge, but not a deal breaker.