New Swing Just A Taste Of What To Expect At Tulsa's Gathering Place

A gift from the makers of some of the Gathering Place's playground equipment is now set up at the QuikTrip Plaza along River Parks.

It's a small taste of the big things to come.

The swing is anything but typical; it's a heavy-duty structure that fits more than one kid or kid at heart.

"As soon as I saw it, I was like, that is fun," said 8-year-old Jack Carlow.

Carlow and his friends with the YMCA didn't waste any time during their visit to the new basket swing at the River Parks QuikTrip Plaza.

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The funky looking swing is a gift from the German manufacturer making the play equipment for the Gathering Place.

"River Parks is all about kids, it's all about families. And so this location, which is just adjacent to the water splash area where, if you look over there right now, there's a couple hundred kids trying to get cool. And so we thought this would be a neat location to showcase this piece of equipment," said Gathering Place executive director, Jeff Stava.

And it's just a taste of what's to come.

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Stava said, "This is compound equipment. These are those netted tree houses with those netted rope kind of connectors, so the kids can kind of crawl up and go between each of the forges and it has huge slides to slide down."

The equipment will be spread out over a five-acre playground with just about every type of slide and swing you can think of.

As for this swing, Matt Meyer with the River Parks Authority said it's a nice addition while Tulsa waits for the Gathering place.

"And I've got a feeling this will be really, really, popular," he said.

And he's probably right, with the approval written all over the kids’ faces.

"It's not like you're just on some swing," Carlow said.

And, much like this swing, the Gathering Place isn't expected to be just any park.

The first phase of the Gathering Place, which includes the five-acre park, is expected to be completed by fall 2017.