By Tim Farley
Managing Editor
Plans to develop 148 acres of Choctaw park land has been put on hold until the city council has an opportunity to study more options.
Planning Design Group submitted a proposal to provide the city with a master park plan for Ten Acre Lake and Bouse Parks, which are located at NE 10th and Indian Meridian. However, the city council voted Dec. 8 to table the issue until other options could be explored.
City officials want to develop the 148 acres into a high quality parks system by combining a youth sports complex, walking trails, an aquatic center, camping areas, picnic facilities, green space and the existing forest preserve. City Manager Robert Floyd said the city could possibly expand Ten Acre Lake to allow for more fishing.
PDG’s proposal would cost the city $15,000, according to documents submitted by the company.
The council will take a second look at all park development proposals at a Jan. 20 meeting that will focus on this issue, said Floyd.
City officials contacted the College of Architecture at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University to gauge their interest in participating in the project. Both universities expressed interest in submitting park proposals but OU students would not be available for the project until the fall of 2010 and OSU students would not be available until the fall of 2011.
“Based on the desire of the city to create and sustain a high quality parks system, I believe that local design firms could provide a lower cost option and more face to face time to support the development of the plan,” City Planner Mark Siebold wrote in a Dec. 3 memo to Floyd.
PDG’s resume includes large and small municipal clients including Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Sapulpa, Sallisaw and Muskogee. Specific projects include the Hatbox Sports Complex in Muskogee, the Hilti Sports Complex in Tulsa, Bentley Park in Bixby and the Will Rogers Tennis Center in Oklahoma City.