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Park Project Director Says River Development Plan Needs an Update

A representative of A Gathering Place for Tulsa says the plan for the Arkansas River is out of date. 

The master plan for Arkansas River development was finished in 2005. Jeff Stava, the project director for A Gathering Place, says the plan is due for another look. 

"You know, when you have a 9- or 10-year-old plan, it needs to be refreshed and updated, and as time has gone on, our challenges have changed," Stava said. 

Stava told the city river task force today he'd like to see new ideas for recreational and economic development along the river, as well as a solid funding plan. 

While the city and Tulsa County work to get approval for low-water dam projects in the Arkansas River, the park designed by the George Kaiser Family Foundation will proceed as planned. 

"We've worked very closely with them in our planning for the last two years as we've started to work on how our project meets the river, and we're building it to accommodate whatever changes the county anticipates making with the  dam height and the gates and those sorts of things," Stava said. "But it's in no way incumbent upon each other."

Stava said the park could have minor tweaks depending on the height approved for Zink Dam, but nothing would be completely scrapped. 

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.