A looped walking trail and misting plaza outside a covered basketball court. A dog park with three enclosed areas. A playground that’s a hop, skip and a jump away from a splash pad, baseball field and pickleball courts.
The list of major improvements on the way to Fred Johnson Park is long — as is the time residents have spent waiting for those renovations to become reality. Now, shovels are hitting the dirt at 6002 S. Riverside Drive. Tulsa leaders hope $8.3 million in investments will rejuvenate the area around 61st and Peoria when construction is completed next year.
“A word that comes up when I talk about this project over the last couple years and where we were headed, and people will say: ‘Finally, finally,’” Tulsa Parks Director Anna America said Friday during a groundbreaking event.
City officials have vowed for more than a decade to reimagine the 33-acre site of largely unused open space. Johnson Park became a focal point in the city’s strategy for reducing crime and improving quality of life after four women were murdered at the former Fairmont Terrace apartment complex in 2013. Now known as Savanna Landing, the apartments sit feet away from the park entrance and continue to draw complaints from residents about management and crime.
Some envisioned a social services center, then a privately-funded multisports complex at the corner of 61st and Riverside. After those ideas lost steam, the parks department created more modest designs for a recreation area — but it lacked the money to follow through. Johnson continued to lay dormant, with what America described as a “pretty mediocre little playground,” an uncovered basketball court and a set of baseball fields.
In 2021, city officials announced they had funding in hand to reimagine the park from top to bottom. Over time, as City Council representation of the area changed hands, its budget grew by the millions. The project is funded through $3.125 million from the voter-approved Improve Our Tulsa 2 bond package; $5 million from Improve Our Tulsa 3; and an additional $200,000 for playground improvements.
Johnson Park straddles two council districts, sitting in Carol Bush’s midtown-centered District 9 and across the street from Anthony Archie’s westside District 2. Both attended the celebration alongside Mayor Monroe Nichols and councilors Phil Lakin Jr. and Karen Gilbert.
Archie pointed to recent investments in the area, including the opening of an Oasis Fresh Market in a former Cox Cash Saver, as signals of a turnaround in the 61st and Peoria corridor.
“I think that if Tulsa is going to be strong and prosperous, then Riverwood has to be strong and prosperous,” he said, adding that the groundbreaking represented the city “keeping its word” to residents.
Joan Calvert joined the staff at South Tulsa Community House, which provides meals and resources to residents at 5780 S. Peoria Ave., just as park plans began to take shape in 2021. Over the past five years, the center has played a key role in gathering resident feedback on the project.
Progress has come in fits and starts, causing some frustration among neighbors eager to see the renovations come to fruition. Calvert, the community house’s executive director, is confident the groundbreaking will ease concerns.
“I always say that action limits frustration,” she said. “So now that the community is here to see the groundbreaking, they know that there are time stamps that are on the project, I truly feel like it will help aid in the frustration.”
Construction is expected to take a year and, once complete, Calvert hopes the amenities will draw people from across the city to see how the area is changing — and, in turn, bring new investment like the north side has.
“We see all of the change that has happened in north Tulsa, and we are for it. I’ve been a huge advocate for it. I’m also a former resident of north Tulsa, but we’ve been screaming, ‘Hey, what about 61st and Peoria as well,’ right?” Calvert said.
The movement on Fred Johnson Park, she said, is a sign that city leaders are listening.
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