Tulsa Parks Announce Plan To Upgrade Courts, Playgrounds At Dozens Of Parks

Parks all across the City of Tulsa will soon get some massive upgrades.

The City of Tulsa will spend nearly $15 million to improve playgrounds, add sports courts, and make them more accessible.

One of the big changes that Tulsans will see is 32 new Pickleball courts and that's a big deal to all the people who love the sport.

Heller Park is one of more than 50 Tulsa Parks to get sports court improvements.

Daniel Deuschle plays here with his friends and is excited.

"It's a beautiful initiative I think, because anything that pulls the community together, anything that allows people to spend time together and just enjoy the outdoors, it's a great thing that the city would do that, to put some more courts up,” Deuschle said. “I think it's really great."

The City of Tulsa plans to improve those sport courts as well as fixing up the playgrounds and adding new equipment to dozens of parks.

Anna America, the City of Tulsa Parks Director, says these upgrades are long overdue.

"We want to make sure if we've got facilities out here, that we're taking good care of them so you can use them,” America said. “Nobody wants a tennis court that's got cracks in it, or a pickleball court, or a basketball court."

America says one of the things Tulsans have been asking the most for is more pickleball courts.

She says this will give more people the chance to try it.

"They will be giving a lot of new people, you may feel a little intimidated if there's this whole line of pickleball players waiting, but adding them in more neighborhoods will mean people who live over here who maybe haven't gotten a chance to try it, they can come over here and try it, there will be a lot more access,” America said.

Some Tulsa Pickleball players say they hope more people will come out and play once the new courts are built.

"It's a huge up-and-coming sport so it's really awesome to not have to probably wait for a court, and it's really nice that they're going to keep up with it and keep everyone outside and active,” Adlai Welfel said.

The City of Tulsa says the sport courts improvements will happen first, then the playground improvements.

The projects are expected to be done in 2027.