For generations, Tulsa has tried to capitalize on the natural beauty of the Arkansas River.

“We’ve turned our backs to the river for so long,” said Jeff Stava, chief operating officer of the Tulsa Community Foundation and executive director of Tulsa’s Gathering Place, LLC. “The Gathering Place was kind of the first glimpse of what it could be.”

The 66.5-acre first phase of the $465 million Gathering Place, a riverfront park, opened in September 2018. The next step in that area’s beautification is creating vibrancy on the river’s edge, which will be celebrated via the “Big Dam Party.”

The event, which starts Aug. 30 and runs through Sept. 2, will mark the debuts of Zink Lake, the Whitewater Flume, Williams Crossing Pedestrian Bridge and Gathering Place’s riverfront expansion.

At the Tulsa Regional Chamber’s Board of Director’s Meeting on Monday, Stava spoke about the new riverfront projects with Julio Badin, executive director of Gathering Place, and Jeff Edwards, executive director of River Parks Authority. The talk was moderated by Renee McKenney, senior vice president of tourism for the Chamber and president of Tulsa Regional Tourism.

“Water is a gathering amenity,” Stava said. “How many people go to the lake on the weekend, or how many people go to the swimming pool on the weekend? You want to be around water. That’s where you recreate. That’s where you cool off. That’s going to be something we’ve never seen or felt or engaged with.

“…Since 2008 or 2009, we’ve been talking about water in the river and working with the county. It was finally (Mayor) G.T. Bynum that got it over the line for us. It’s really exciting. I can’t wait to get it open and have you all come.”

One of Badin’s jobs before coming to Gathering Place was a management position with Disneyland. What sets Gathering Place apart from other parks in America is its upkeep, he said.

“We maintain it to a level that is world-class, and I have to thank GKFF (George Kaiser Family Foundation), because without them, that wouldn’t be the case,” Badin said. “I’ll be honest with you. There are not many parks in the entire world that do it to the level we do. It’s very important for this community to understand that.”

Edwards is eager for River Parks’ 1.5 million to 2 million annual users to be able to engage with its “most valuable resource,” the Arkansas River.

“That, in and of itself, is a success, no matter what else happens on Zink Lake,” Edwards said. “…We’re throwing a good million dollars at this with appropriate staffing to engage with users so that we can encourage folks to use this as a good resource and really understand how it operates.”

As for further improvements to Gathering Place, Stava said the park is studying how to maximize a roughly 30-acre, southward expansion, which would involve incorporating Crow Creek and the planting of some 600-700 trees to create a natural canopy.

“Literally, you would have a completed shaded park area,” he said. “We have a lot of open lawns, flat lawns. We have the Great Lawn, which has a flat spot. But we don’t have a lot of flat spaces, spaces for picnics and throwing balls and Frisbees and that sort of thing.”