Transforming Tulsa, Starting With a Park

“the Olmsted-style transformation” Really? I’m trying to remember the over-designed theme park vanity projects that Olmstead developed — Michael VV has talent, but his work is very different. More Six Flags and fixed routes than open spaces and park as oasis from the busyness of the city. Like Bloombergian urbanism, it’s what urbanism looks like to the Billionaires. The NYT seems to love these parks, as it’s devoted its urban narrative of public space. Perhaps it is noble of the rich to build these kind of spaces. But maybe if the pop media devoted more time and resources (some of that Trump money) to covering cities in a holistic, architecture-first way, you wouldn’t be so easily seduced by the big shiny (let them eat public space) projects.

parks are democratic as they bring people together to reduce the feeling of inequality ? sure I guess - reminds me of Australia's equivalent - beaches I have an image of Australia's richest man - striding into the surf at a local beach in his budgie smugglers (togs/speedos) while flicking the butt of his cigarette into the face of the oncoming wave. Nobody feels awed by a picture of a mostly naked overweight old man ...

I'm a native Tulsan and I am so excited to read about The Gathering Place, and in the New York Times! George Kaiser's philanthropy has done wonders for Tulsa, including some of the revitalization in the Arts District, bringing the Guthrie museum and the Dylan Archives there. As others have pointed out, private philanthropy for civic good has a long history in Tulsa. I grew up on what is now the North/East side, when it was populated by working class, union, mostly white people. A bus driver's daughter, I graduated from Will Rogers HIgh. I continue to hope for a resurgence of tolerance and good will among all citizens of my home town. I know it can happen. Public enthusiasm for the new park is a good place to begin.

Tulsa’s Gathering Place should make every Tulsan proud. Mr. Kaiser clearly aligns his philanthropic efforts with Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum’s outspoken passion (and mayoral election platform) for shrinking the 12.8 year discrepancy in life expectancy and other inequalities between the predominantly African-American communities of North Tulsa and those of more affluent South Tulsa, further evidenced by his (Mr. Kaiser’s) support of the nationally recognized Tulsa Educare Program, providing the underserved with early childhood development opportunities. After nine years studying a decades old controversy from a public servant water resources engineering perspective, I see the single biggest step in reducing the North-South public health discrepancies, like low birth weights as another example, may very well be to end the nationwide but misguided status quo of community water fluoridation. The chemicals added are from fertilizer manufacturing waste, and the vast majority of European and other countries in the developed world have rejected fluoridation due to its potential for harmful health effects and to not violate their citizens’ freedom of choice with their medications. Tulsa could and should respect and support the globally predominant positions against government imposed public water fluoridation and end the practice for the benefit of its North Tulsa minority communities, and for all of Tulsa, and lead the nation among other large cities and all communities in this regard.

Lovely to look at, but too cramped for comfortable walking. Some paths in the photos appear to be only one-person wide. Of course, that's a sure way to insure you mingle (closely) with strangers, whether you want to or not. Just saying......

Very unhappy with your article on Gathering Place. We appreciate George Kaiser and what he does for Tulsa. Am excited about opening of Park. And you exaggerate the amount of people who died in riots.

Hats Off to George Kaiser and his generous gift to Tulsa. And I find it quite humorous that Tulsa aspires to be like Austin. The first steps include becoming an inclusive city with regard and outreach for all. And the willingness to pay for all the amenities of a world-class mid-size city like Austin TX. No amount of private donations will change people's beliefs when they are rooted in "me-first and all others be damned" philosophy of the current GOP and the residents of Tulsa.

Wow!!! I want to come and see and experience this park. Love that the foundation is providing free shuttle service to the park for the under served areas of Tulsa.

How wonderful of George Kaiser! Tulsa has a long history of philanthropy including the beautiful Philbrook Art Museum, LaFortune Park, and St. Francis Hospital (the Warren Foundation). All of the these gifts (and more) enhanced my life growing up in Tulsa. There are several elegant gardens that are more formal in design like Woodward Park. This park seems focussed on people and will make an excellent place for all Tulsans to enjoy as well as get to know one another. I can't wait to see it on my next visit.

Yes bravo to George Kaiser...what a wonderful gift to our Tulsa Communities! I am concerned about the other posts on this site. Tulsa is a wonderful small city. It is a "best kept secret" with its lovely green spaces, warm friendly people, not too big and not too much traffic, low cost of living compared to most cities, and enough activities for most folks. We do need more spaces for kids and families to have fun and George Kaiser stepped up to the plate in a big way on that mission! I have traveled much and I could live anywhere and I chose lovely, friendly, and peaceful Tulsa OK.

Bravo to George Kaiser and his foundation for donating the land, creating this gorgeous park, and for funding it's maintenance for 99 years. Green spaces are very democratizing and, more importantly, contribute greatly to human happiness.

I hope that they've thought a lot about things that can make attractive spots less and less desirable. EG, are there enough bathrooms, in enough places? Will all these little hiding spots start getting used for drug deals and/or for shooting up? Will lots of kids try to climb those stacks of rocks and fall? Will people sleep/live in the park? Will there be enough security people (interested in preserving fun, rather than in cracking down on non-criminals). I hope that the park is wildly successful; I'm just trying to be realistic. Maybe the designers have urban-park-hazard experts on their team and they've somewhat mitigated these potential/likely problems with their design. However, the physical complexity of the layout is going to make policing the park (in all senses) much more difficult than the case of a park consisting of one huge meadow. BTW, I loved Mr. Kaiser's comment, "I feel guilty about everything I do." I have no idea what he may or may not have done to accumulate eight billion dollars, but I don't think that he has to feel guilty about this particular enterprise. ;)

What a beautiful idea. But the execution looks hideous. Naturalistic pseudo-wilderness park design does not work and is inappropriate for urban settings, where formal design is required for beauty.

I'm originally from Tulsa and so delighted to see this project manifest. Thank you George Kaiser for this extreme act of generosity - your contribution cannot be overstated.

Communities like Tulsa, and there are thousands across the US, need this kind of investment in public spaces. It really enhances people's lives and hopefully brings communities together. Props to Mr. Kaiser for making this happen. But beyond what a single wealthy individual can do, many communities also need robust investments in public transportation, high quality public education, trade and technical schools for 21st century jobs (not for-profit rip-off scams), comprehensive and affordable local healthcare, affordable housing, inexpensive speedy broadband access, and the financial backstop provided by reliable pensions, Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare. Lots of things make a community successful, including beautiful public spaces. But so much more is needed throughout the country. A good place to start would be for profitable businesses to share more of their wealth with employees, to tax the massive accumulations of wealth generated since the Reagan years, and for everyone to help invest in the public goods that make life worth living for their fellow citizens. Fortunately, we're a very wealthy country.

For commenters at odds with this massive donation, it's not whether higher taxes are preferable to initiating and maintaining resources for the public versus philanthropy. It's that, while we live in a Trump world that cuts already too-low taxes on the super-wealthy (and uses our tax money for boondoggles like $74 million on 134 days of golf during his presidency to-date!) philanthropy is urgently needed to fund these resources. A quick note on park design itself - the play spaces sound wonderful for child interaction and individual adult relaxation and exploration. For teens and adult interaction - the soccer fields and volleyball courts in NYC's Central Park and Riverside Park are tremendous resources where people of all ethnic and economic backgrounds come together. This may be part of the design already, but mentioning because our NYC parks really do break down barriers through team play.

I drive a Transit bus in Tulsa. We truly have a incredible disparity wealth and conflicts of opinions on how to solve our problems. I see the poorest of the poor each day. May God bless the Kaiser family for this gift to our city. May it bring joy and peace to children old and young for generations.

What a lovely park! Despite the reservations about the wealthy and their donations, this park worked out just fine.

An uplifting article! Some good news for a change. Years ago, I was a customer service rep and talked to people all over the country. It seemed that the nicest people I talked to were almost always from Oklahoma.

I grew up on 35th and peoria and the river parks were mine and my neighborhood friends 's playground. In the mid to late 70's, once summer hit we were on our bikes exploring every nook and cranny of the river. I'm so excited to see and experience this next chapter on the river feeling deeply that it's going to create beautiful experiences for Tulsan's and non Tulsan's alike. With the renewal of the downtown experience and adding The Gathering Place it does might heart good to see positive directions happening in T-town. It's much needed.

Tulsa has had money. For example, LBO king Henry Kravis is from Tulsa, as was the entertainer Tony Randall. Kismet or talmudic subtlety.

As a progressive who long ago found Tulsa a wonderful place to be from, I am naturally impressed and gladdened to see such a magnificent facility come to my former hometown. I wonder if in conservative (perhaps reactionary is the better description) Tulsa its citizens will recognize that this no strings gift comes from someone on the much maligned left.

The story related to this gift by the George Kaiser Foundation to the City of Tulsa is just the tip of the iceberg. One needs to do some additional insight to the contributions and programs that Mr. Kaiser and his foundation have implemented and supported within Tulsa and beyond our borders. The amazing part of this story is that Mr. Kaiser and his foundation does all of work below the radar and I'm willing to bet that a major portion of the population in Tulsa and the surrounding communities have no clue about him or his foundation. Having seen Mr. Kaiser unpretentiously scrolling through his IPAD at the Downtown Tulsa Gilcrease Museum location during an open house with throngs of passersby not knowing who was and him not noticing such was a testament to his genuine generosity. Thank you Mr. Kaiser!

Prepare yourselves, I'm going to offer praise. The Husband and I have been to Tulsa, on road trips, half a dozen times in the last few years. It is a much prettier, greener, more geographically interesting City than either Wichita OR Oklahoma City. We enjoyed shopping, eating out, sightseeing and even flew out of the Airport, which is modern but very place appropriate. Everyone we met was welcoming and interesting. We will definitely visit this Park and Museums on our next trip. Please visit this beautiful City, the people need and deserve our support. Thank you.

It’s a shame the rising occurance of crime in Tulsa will hinder incoming visitor attendance.

The most offensive paragraph in this otherwise upbeat and positive story on urban renewal is this one: “But are cities best served by having parks and other amenities initiated and subsidized by powerful billionaires? To Aaron Dorfman, president of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, a Washington-based watchdog group, “private citizens getting to decide which ‘common good’ ideas get funded is a worrisome trend.” Talk about the height of elitism! I guess George Kaiser and LeBron James are in the same boat? LeBron opened a new public school in Akron. I didn’t see any quotes about this being a “worrisome trend” because James is an NBA star while it looks to some like Kaiser is putting up “dirty money”. Good for George Kaiser and the good people of Tulsa to provide this outstanding opportunity for all. I guess I need to go back and make sure I chastise the Morgans, Rockefellers and Carnegies for the worrisome trends of free libraries, museums and public spaces.

As a retired civil engineer who spent his entire career doing mostly mundane projects I worked really hard to be involved with any recreation projects I could. It was always great Mike you can do the well and water system and the waste water treatment and disposal systems, and the other stuff that allows things to work but end up being buried. I'm dying after reading this story. The city of Tulsa had the golden goose drop an egg, and the team involved in design execution didn't let the goose down. What a fantastic project I would have worked for free on this one and you could bury all I did and me with it because this kind of thing just does not happen. Mr K is the king of cool. Wow

I was born and raised in Tulsa two blocks from this park. We would climb under a fence by the railroad tracks and play in the woods behind the big fancy house that anchored this huge riverfront property. We would pretend to be Robin Hood or circus people. Good memories. At first I was slightly dismayed by the ambitious scale of this project, but now I'm on board. It's good for the city. Everybody can enjoy it, and the kids especially. I enjoyed this private Idaho when I was young, even though we were little trespassers, and now new generations can put their stamp on it. Carry on, Tulsa.

Tulsa is a gem of a city. As a 1973 graduate of Tulsa University, I have experienced living in this beautiful city. Gilcrease Museum is an outstanding museum of the arts of the Americas. The art deco buildings are architectural marvels downtown. People are genuinely proud of where they live. Great strides are being made to be a more inclusive place to live. The race riot that was a tragedy has not been forgotten. Utica Square is one of the first outdoor shopping centers that exhibits good taste and a place to stroll in a well landscaped area. I can not wait to visit Tulsa soon and see this wonderful park. Thank you for sharing the story and photos. The oil, "black gold" millionaires, have long endowed the arts and education areas of Tulsa. Thank you, Mr. Kaiser

I think people are going to be really surprised at the quality and scale of this park and its amenities. I am very hopeful about Tulsa and its future for this is only one of the great things happening here. The revitalization of our downtown, renewed energy, investment and interest along our Route 66 corridor, the beginnings of new mass transit and urban living options, more areas allowing pedestrian friendly/transit friendly development, new museums and entertainment options, this new park and much more are all working to create synergies of opportunity and job creation. I think the next big push for our city will indeed be to focus on education and helping the citizens of Tulsa be happier, healthier people.

This was very kind of Mr. Kaiser to donate such a magnificent gift to Tulsa. I've lived in Tulsa for year's, & his family has made a lot of donation's to Tulsa. He's from Tulsa. He didn't have to make this donation, he just saw something that could bring Tulsan's together & made it happen. Thank you Mr. Kaiser, we really appreciate it.

I cannot wait to play in this park. They did a presentation at my law school, and there are also many features for adults to enjoy. Kayaking, skatepark etc.

Starting in March, 2012, Meeting were held to get input from the public about the parks's features. To report Aaron Dorfman's comment, “private citizens getting to decide which ‘common good’ ideas get funded is a worrisome trend" without reporting the solicitation of public input is sloppy reporting.

“private citizens getting to decide which ‘common good’ ideas get funded is a worrisome trend.” This is the end result of right-wing policies that direct public money disproportionately into tax cuts for wealthy people and military rat-holes, then tell us there's nothing left for anything else. Maybe us little Oliver Twists can beg a few billionaires to form a national health insurance plan that will cover everyone at a reasonable cost.

Great! Now can we please build something similar in Washington DC??! Plenty of neighborhoods that are in need of great parks. Please.

I grew up in Tulsa, and the separatist legacy affects me still when I think of how it was in the 50's, and before. It is remarkable that this man, Mr. Kaiser, has given his money to fund this purpose rather than building himself another Tulsa mansion to hide in. I am touched by his forward thinking, and hope that the outcome of his investment matches his vision. Tulsa deserves this - always has been beautiful.

in a perfect world . . . the naysayers might have the right to complain . . . Today, God bless the billionaires who at least try to do the right thing most of the time . . . having this space will allow thousands of young under-privileged kids to dream big dreams - if only for a while . . .

Let me first say that any philanthropy of any kind is indeed welcome - especially for the underprivileged. Having said that, I am sick and tired of billionaires (having got that way by hook or by crook) shaping our world. If governments around the world functioned properly of the people, by the people, and for the people, then there would be no need for ''charity'' of any kind. Decide for yourself : https://sunlightfoundation.com/2011/10/13/barack-obamas-other-billionair... If you make more, then you should be paying more taxes Progressively upwards. That tax revenue should be then voted upon as to how it is going to be used for all. NOT just one individual.

I have been to Tulsa many times for work. The riverwalk is also rally nice. As someone from California, I really find the abundance of water soothing and the evening temperature is very pleasant in the summertime. Also, some great restaurants as well. The historical issues of race and class and segregation and ghettoization are being addressed lightly in this park - proximity is needed for conversations to occur. I am hopeful!

Rich people making the world a better place, just because. For those of us who want to be hopeful for America's future, we need these stories. Frankly it goes in the same category as LeBron's CNN interview and coverage of the respectful protests by NFL players. I agree that it's a condemnation of the current state of our country that we have to rely on the kindness of (rich) strangers to fund projects like this. We see every day in the actions of our president the great risk involved with “relying on someone’s good will." It's the modern equivalent of taking candy from a stranger. Things can go terribly, terribly wrong. But that's not the fault of truly altruistic, kind-hearted and sincere people like Kaiser, Buffett, James, Gates, Kaepernick and others. They are doing what they can.

Nice project. I hope he has left it a hefty endowment as much of what I see is not sustainable in the long term. Too many moving parts. The beauty of Olmstead's designs is his allowing nature to manage itself.

If you visit Tulsa, bring earplugs. I love trains but I don't want to hear them all night when I'm trying to sleep.