Tulsa Neighborhood Meets With City About 'Rebirth' Of Park

A Tulsa community decided it will call the shots, as it brings its neighborhood park back to life.

Four months after the city demolished the B.C. Franklin Rec Center and pool in north Tulsa, neighbors shared their ideas for the new park.

The neighborhood association has met every Tuesday for months, and Tuesday night, the group got together at Booker T. Washington High School to discuss the drawings with representatives from the city.

“It is kind of a rebirth of B.C. Franklin Park that we're hoping for,” said community activist Vanessa Hall-Harper.

Hall-Harper has a vision for the park that now sits overgrown and empty. The concept plan includes a community garden, sports courts and an impressive playground.

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“The theme we hope to be, Black Wall Street, and so we want it to be a place, not only where our youth can come and play, but also a learning experience,” Hall-Harper said.

An almost mile long trail would weave its way through the new park as well.

“In our community we have high rate of diabetes and obesity, and so I think that it would be great when we have a walking trail and the outdoor workout facility, so that way not only our kids can get exercise, but adults and our seniors can have a safe place to walk and exercise,” community activist Kristi Williams said.

There is already $800,000 from the city of Tulsa budgeted for the project and neighbors hope to raise $200,000 more through fundraising and donations.

Tuesday night, Parks Director, Lucy Dolman, gave the concept a thumb's up.

“They're safer. You don't have an old building blocking the view, and it really adds a lot of vitality to the community and I can't imagine with this design how this would not do the same thing,” Dolman said.

Hall-Harper said, “You can see how it looks now and so I think the community has gotten to the point where they wanna see much better and the community certainly deserves better, and we're gonna do all that we can, in conjunction with the city and other community partners, to make sure that we have a park that we can proud of.”

This is just the first phase of turning the concept into a reality. If the plan is given the official stamp of approval, engineers estimate a groundbreaking next May or June.

Some people were upset when the city tore down the old rec center, but it just wasn't structurally safe.

Then, the city came up with a plan for a type of water park, but neighbors didn't like that idea.

But with this plan, residents seem to be on the same page and on the right track towards getting a decision made.