QuikTrip Plans Park Project
By P.J. LASSEK, World Staff Writer 4/13/2008

The company will pay for a new plaza and playground in River Parks at 41st Street. When QuikTrip Corp. President Chet Cadieux began brainstorming a few years ago on how the company would commemorate its 50th anniversary this fall, the logical answer was to give something back to the community.

What that gift would be and where to put it was fairly easy to figure out -- adopt an area in River Parks and create a place where families will want to relax and have fun.

After about two years of planning, Cadieux is unveiling a signature plaza and playground designed to be an innovative outdoor environment with unique, flexible space for children's play, special events and all kinds of gatherings for all kinds of people.

The project, which will replace the park's playground and shelter at 41st Street, "is meant to become a destination point for the park," Cadieux said.

Plans are to have the project completed for a dedication in late September.

Helping parks and kids: Enhancing River Parks is a Cadieux family passion, which started with Cadieux's father, Chester Cadieux, a former longtime member of the River Parks Authority who has been instrumental in the park's growth since 1983.

Helping children, specifically those at risk, also is a core mission behind QuikTrip's philanthropic efforts, the younger Cadieux said.

"Our theory is that if we can make some kind of difference in the life of a child, much less lots of children, then that solves a lot of our society's problems in the next generation," he said.

The plaza and playground, which is estimated to cost $2.5 million to $3 million, is the perfect gift -- meeting both of those objectives and showing QuikTrip's appreciation to Tulsa for its support during the past 50 years, Cadieux said.

QuikTrip is paying for more than half of the project. The remaining funds are coming from other donors, including the George Kaiser Family Foundation.

The public first heard about the project during last fall's river tax initiative, which included the creation of several "gathering spots" in River Parks.

Jim Denny, QuikTrip's vice president of marketing, said Cadieux agreed to merge his idea with the river initiative, which would have resulted in a larger-scale project if voters approved the improvements proposal.

But, when the initiative failed, Cadieux wasn't willing to abandon the idea, Denny said.

Keith Franklin, the president of LandPlan Consultants, which designed the project, said it was scaled back to its original intent, but through the help of additional donors, it added some design elements developed during the river initiative process.

An important element of the gift includes funding for maintenance of the project's many facets.

"We made a commitment that anything we do that causes additional maintenance for River Parks, we would pick up that cost," Denny said.

Park plans: Matt Meyer, the executive director of the River Parks Authority, said it had approved the design for the plaza and playground.

"River Parks is extremely fortunate to have such a generous corporate partner as QuikTrip that is concerned about the quality of life in Tulsa," he said.

Meyer said QuikTrip had worked with the authority throughout the planning.

Authority Chairman Darton Zink said: "The authority couldn't be more pleased with the investment that QuikTrip is making in our park for the community. They have always been a tremendous contributor and great corporate citizen."

Denny said putting together the plan and watching it evolve "has been a blast."

The project will be an interactive park unlike any in Tulsa, incorporating the latest ideas in playground equipment, a variety of interactive water features for toddlers to school-age children, a waterfall, a new shelter, seating areas, restrooms and trail route.

Franklin said the company would join with the city to construct a drainage system that will allow park land to be reclaimed from a drainage ditch that cuts through the area.

The ditch will be filled in and sodded to be made usable, he said.

Plaza: The new plaza will have an arbored entry to a paved open space that will include craftsman architectural-styled shelters and restrooms. The area also will include a fountain accented with special lighting that can be turned off so the area can be used for additional seating for intimate concerts.

A deck will be built near the river's edge to hide a pipe from which stormwater will flow into the river, creating a waterfall. The deck also will serve as a stage.

Playground: The playground will be a focal point, providing an area for toddlers and another for older children.

It will have a rubber safety surface and innovative play equipment by Kompan, a company founded by a sculptural artist and a child development specialist. The playground will accommodate 118 children.

Pyramidal berms will be installed around the playground. The berms not only will block the view of the parking lot, but provide a play area for children or casual seating for adults.

Interactive water features: A children's fountain will be made up of 19 independent, computer-controlled, dancing water jets.

Also planned are five small, raised canal areas, each providing a different interactive element for a variety of ages.

The fountains will include a set of cascading steps, a lazy river for toy boats, a bubbler table for toddlers, dancing arched jets and a geyser fountain for older children.

The fountains' water will be recycled through a chlorination pumping system that will be buried at the site but be accessible for maintenance.

Franklin said the water would be equivalent to pool water and address any health concerns.

New trail route: The improvements to the stormwater drainage area and trail improvements under way at the park will reroute the trail to the front of the plaza. The current pathway stretches behind the shelter near the river's edge.

Signage, pavement markers and tree planters will help mark the trail areas.

"What QuikTrip hopes this project will do is to spur other corporations or foundations to adopt other areas of the park and create something that will entice more people to River Parks," Denny said.

In addition to the George Kaiser Family Foundation, donors to the project include SemGroup, William K. Warren Foundation, Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation, Mary K. Chapman Foundation, Taylor Lobeck Foundation, John Zink Foundation, Bank of Oklahoma, Williams Cos., Nadel & Gussman, Steven and Shelley Jackson Family Foundation, Pete and Nancy Meinig, and Joe and Kathy Craft.

The project includes: