Crews Spend Friday Preparing For Gathering Place Groundbreaking

A project that will transform Tulsa gets underway with the groundbreaking for Tulsa's Gathering Place. The event starts at 10:00 Saturday morning, but crews spent all day Friday preparing.

It may not have looked like much Friday, but Saturday morning the grounds will be covered with people and activities, all in celebration of the start to the massive park project.

Taping, cutting and setting up, just some of the things crews did Friday across the heart of what will become Tulsa's Gathering Place park along Riverside Drive.

It was all in preparation for Saturday's groundbreaking for the $350 million project; and it's the start of something that's been in the works for almost a decade.

9/16/2014 Related Story: Thousands Expected For Tulsa's Gathering Place Ground Breaking

"I'm excited we finally get to play on this. I've wanted to play on this area for a lot of my life,” said Tulsa resident, Sebastian Alderman.

Saturday's festivities include a tape tunnel built on site by the Tulsa Children's Museum.

"I think all told 12 hours, about six people, 12 hours to set up,” said Ray VanDiver with the museum.

There are many activities for the whole family; and inside a futuristic dome, you'll get to see what the park will look like when it's finished.

"There's two domes, on the inter dome there will be a digital projection onto the top of the inside of the dome, kind of like a planetarium, but it's a little bit different with special projection software and different lenses," said Dante Anderson with Super Uber. "And we're one tiny little part of it, just doing this informational presentation, but I'm going to come back that's for sure because the whole thing just looks fantastic."

Those behind the Gathering Place said its children's playground will be the finest in the world.

Instead of the traditional groundbreaking, all the kids in the audience will be given a shovel to use to turn the first bit of dirt, then, that will officially mark the start of construction.

Gathering Place Parking

Riverside Drive will be shut down as of 5:00 Saturday morning, and those headed to the ground breaking can park and take a shuttle to the event.