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Would Support Varied Life
'Pier 15' Could Be Bridge to New Tulsa
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By BOB FORESMAN
Tulsa would be a fun capital if
it built Pier 15 in proposed River
Lakes Park—the imaginative project of low-water dams and parks
along the Arkansas River Waterfront, which was unveiled on
Thursday.
Pier 15, as planned by Hudgins,
Thompson, Ball & Associates for
the Tulsa Metropolitan Planning
Commission, is aimed at bringing
the romance of a river or bay
city to the prairies.
A showboat could be tied to the
pier which would cross the river
at about 15th Street.
Both outdoor and Indoor restaurants and dining spots would
be on the pier itself—like the Blue
Ship Tearoom at Boston, or Sam's,
the pier dining spot at Tiburon
in the San Francisco Bay area,
where hamburger and french fries
TULSA, OKLA., SATURDAY, APRIL 13,
PAGE THIRTEEN
1968
are tossed to the seagulls.
ARCHITECTS HAVE patterned
the Tulsa pier after the 12th Century Old London Bridge across
the Thames which became a cultural and commercial exchange
for two parts of London.
It would link the center of Tulsa
with the Westbank Urban Renewal
area of West Tulsa.
A heavy structure, it would be
about the height of the 11th Sf-reet
Bridge, but limited to pedestrian
traffic.
Only vehicles permitted would
be small buses, about the siz<e of
the San Francisco cable cars,
which would have open air s-eats
—and would link the Civic Center
area with Tulcenter Golf Coi^se
to be near the West Tulsa end of
the pier.
THE BRIDGE WOULD be 100
feet wide to permit a variety of
shops and stores, and at intervals there could be one or more
high-rise buildings—likely apartments.
"These would have some foundation piers of their own for support," said J. Littleton Daniel Jr.,
HT&B architect.
The structures would have air
rights over Tulcenter Lake.
In addition to luring visitors
and Tulsans, the bridge would
serve the additional function of
bringing residents of both sides of
the river together.
The Downtown Northwest Urban Renewal Project, south and
west of the Civic Center, would
100-foot wide sidewalk, which is
planned as a part of the urban
renewal development now under "
way. The small buses could run
over this sidewalk to the Civic
Center parking lots.
PEER 15's cost has been tentatively estimated at $4,125,000.
The basic structure would be
financed from bonds, but shops,
restaurants and other commercial
be linked to the pier area by a
facilities could be financed
through the sale of revenue bonds.
It is possible that some of the
construction would be privately
financed and owned.
The project would not be started -
until Tulcenter Dam was built
at 36th Street.
Architects believe the pier
could become the city's "trademark"—like New Orleans' Vieux\
Carre.
