Tulsa Mayor Offers Solution To Controversial Sale Of Helmerich Park

Tulsa's mayor said he has a potential resolution in the controversial sale of Helmerich Park. The city sold a piece of the park to a shopping center developer, but the issue's been tied up in court.

The piece of land at the corner of 71st and Riverside is mostly undeveloped.

It's used for volleyball courts now but has been long envisioned by city leaders as a commercial development.

They carved out almost nine acres for a potential shopping center, leaving the rest of Helmerich - with playgrounds and parking - untouched.

"As long as there is an attempt to sell the parkland, we will maintain our lawsuit," said Terry Young, who's suing the city over the sale of the park.

Young is a former Tulsa mayor and is now suing to stop the sale of the land.

He believes the council could stop it next week, by not taking the legal step of "abandoning" the land.

"We just hope the city council will vote not to abandon the park, and the contract with the developer will be allowed to expire in March," Young said. 

Texas Developer Don Bouvier is behind the plan to build a REI store in the corner of the park.

He made the deal with the past administration with the support of some city councilors, but with time running out and the deal tied up in court, Mayor GT Bynum said he stepped in to try and resolve it.

"Turning it over to two different parties, neither of whom were elected, to be suing each other in court over it is not in the best interest of the citizens and my hope is that working with the council, we can determine a resolution to this," Bynum said. 

The mayor was unwilling to disclose the plan that he'll take to a special meeting of the city council Tuesday morning.