I went to Food Truck Wednesday last week at Guthrie Green and loved it.
Three days later I went to a Tulsa Drillers game at ONEOK Field, and guess what? Loved that, too.
The Brady District has become the most talked-about area in the city for good reason. Every day, it seems, a new museum, art gallery or restaurant pops up.
It’s become the kind of place you visit to wander about and see what might be around the next corner.
Still, when I get to thinking about what parts of town are likely to be revitalized next, I can't help but look west to that dribble of a river we call the Arkansas.
On its east and west banks, things are happening, some better known than others.
The George Kaiser Family Foundation is spending roughly $200 million to construct Phase 1 of The Gathering Place for Tulsa. The park will stretch from 24th to 31st streets on the east side of Riverside Drive and from 24th Street to 33rd Place along the west side.
Of course, that project is no secret.
Less well known is the Eugene Field Small Area Plan, quietly approved recently by the City Council.
The impetus for the plan – which sets development guidelines and goals -- was Community Action Project of Tulsa County’s work to revitalize the neighborhood through the construction of a mixed-use development.
The plan calls for replacing the subsidized housing at Brightwater Apartments, 2202, S. Phoenix Ave., with a new, larger housing facility that would include 200 units of units of subsidized housing and approximately 150 market-units.
The apartments are to be built on the east and west sides of West Tulsa Park with a new 3-acre park in between.
And then there are River Parks Authority’s planned improvements to River West Festival Park and the revitalization efforts of the Red Fork Main Street program.
The city, meanwhile, is expected to put out requests for proposals this year to develop 60 acres of city-owned land at Riverside Parkway and 71st Street. Preliminary conceptual plans envision mixed-use development anchored by a tournament-quality volleyball facility.
Not to be outdone, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation is expanding its River Spirit Casino and entering a partnership with Margaritaville to open a 22-story hotel along the Arkansas River.
No, there is no steady stream of water in the river, and local, state and federal efforts to fill it seem to inevitably run dry.
But someday soon low-water dams will be built in the Arkansas River and the water will rise.
It has to: the flood of construction along the river’s banks demands it.
To read more about the Eugene Field Small Area Plan, go to tulsaworld.com/eugenefield
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