Lee Mayberry, a Gathering Place park ambassador, shared the courts Tuesday with Tulsa media outlets. The skate park and BMX tracks were not included in the reveal.
"I was a kid who went to B.C. Franklin Recreation Center; that's where I learned how to play," Mayberry said. "This is like B.C. Franklin on steroids — the awesome slides and swings, and all of these basketball courts, soccer fields — it's nothing like we have ever seen in Tulsa before."
The courts sit near 31st Street, off of Riverside Drive. They are tucked in among tall grass and wildflower landscaping with a multi-use trail meandering by.
As for the skate park and BMX tracks, Gathering Place officials have provided little detail thus far. The park's website indicates little about the skatepark except for a name, "Skate Bowl." As for the BMX tracks, the park will feature three different levels: expert, intermediate and beginner. Both will feature the river as a backdrop, according to park officials.
Mayberry, who is an assistant women's basketball coach at Oral Roberts University, said the location will draw Tulsa together in a tighter community. Gathering Place, he said, will bring together the city's north, west, east and south sides, and midtown, at a convenient focal point on the Arkansas River.
“The excitement is going to be there," Mayberry said. "I think it has everything to offer."
Each sports court is marked in white lines for volleyball, basketball, hockey and soccer. Park officials said equipment rentals will be available. The volleyball net can be taken down and put back up. It was not clear Tuesday whether park visitors would be able to do that themselves.
About five people took the opportunity to shoot hoops, and occasionally challenge each other to one-on-one, at the new courts. Greg Jones Jr., also known as Tulsa Hype Man, eagerly dropped what he was doing to burn some calories on the two-tone blue court.
"There's nothing like this in Tulsa," he said.
For the time being, those five courts will be first come, first serve. At night, the courts get lit for quick pickup games or organized, long-standing rivalries.
Gathering Place officials have already scheduled programing during the next three months as part of the 100-day celebration of the park, including 3-on-3 games, exhibitions and fitness classes.
The park will open Sept. 8. Officials broke ground on the $465 million Gathering Place in September 2014. The sports courts bear the name of $5 million donor SemGroup, a global energy services company, to recognize their contribution to the park.
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