Discoveryland Property Under Major Renovations, To Reopen As Event Venue

A piece of Green Country's past is making a comeback. 

The old Discoveryland property in Sand Springs has new owners and is under major renovation. It will return as “Discoveryland Ranch” with some new features.

The property is packed with history, where for 35 years, people from all world would spend their summer nights taking in an old classic.

“At one point they had all 50 governors here for a performance,” said Discoveryland Ranch owner Jason Shipman.

Discoveryland was once known as "The National Outdoor Home for Rodger and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!" But after the 2011 season, it closed and the stage went dark.

“It was really a source of pride for the people that worked here and people from Sand Springs and the west Tulsa community and I know after hearing their stories, it's created in us a really strong sense of responsibility to do the place right,” Jason said. 

Jason and his wife, Kayla, bought the 525-acre plot just outside of Sand Springs more than a year ago with the dream to make it a premier spot for weddings.

“I think once we get all the landscaping and the rock work and water features, it's gonna be really photogenic,” said Jason.

The old stage lights have been pulled down and construction crews are busy working to renovate the amphitheater.

“Ultimately we decided the amphitheater really needed to be central to the venue. It's such a unique, really timeless structure,” Jason said. 

Jason is an engineer and homebuilder. But he said his wife, who is a veterinarian in Sand Springs, is the visionary for the project.

“He says I have too much vision sometimes,” Kayla said laughing.

“She's a really good dreamer and she's always a couple steps ahead of me, too. I'll have an idea and she'll be like, 'Oh no. I had that idea 6 months ago.' So I'm always trying to catch up with her,” Jason added.

The couple built a farmhouse on the property where they currently live, but it will eventually serve as a bridal suite. They are restoring the old picnic pavilion, building an indoor event center and they’ve also transformed the old ticket booth into a chicken coop.

They are keeping the Discoveryland name, too, just adding the word “ranch” to the end because it's also a ranch with cattle, goats and horses to greet all the guests.

“Everyone seems to be really excited and anxious to see how this all turns out,” Kayla said. 

Their big plans for the future, also recognize Discoveryland's storied past.

“Not that we're trying to recreate what was here because we're not, but we do want to have something that, again, people from Sand Springs/West Tulsa are proud of,” Jason said. 

The Shipmans want to bring in concerts and hope to offer up space at Discoveryland Ranch to schools in the community at no cost.

“It really could be used for anything that you need a stage and an audience, so concerts, band performances, musicals, kind of skies the limit on that,” said Jason.

And yes, that could, one day, include an encore of Oklahoma!

“[Putting on a musical production is] just not our core competency, but once we have the venue up and running, we're definitely gonna reach out to some folks and see what we can do,” Jason said. “We've got some ideas, but it's kind of, ‘we'll cross that bridge when we get there.’ The focus right now is getting this place up and running.”

The couple said if they do host a musical they have to do it right and through an actual production company. But they said it would never be for a full run in the summer like before.

The Shipmans hope to open Discoveryland Ranch by late spring or early fall.

You can follow all the progress through Discoveryland Ranch’s Facebook page.