OKC Parks And Rec Priorities After Bond Election

Oklahoma City residents are getting a better of idea how the local parks will be transformed after a successful bond election Tuesday. Doug Kupper, director of Parks and Recreation for OKC, showed News 9 the priorities moving forward.

Golfers at Earlywine, Lake Hefner, and Jimmy Stewart golf courses will see new clubhouses similar to the new one at Lincoln Park Golf Course. Kupper says Earlywine will most likely be the first clubhouse built.

Better signage on the city’s 90 miles of bike trails is also in the works. The additions will detail the locations of bathrooms and intersections. New canopies will also give walkers and riders better shade.

“When we start adding new trails," Kupper.says, "these will become automatic elements.”

Bond money will also help purchase new property for the soccer fields near Lake Hefner. Located on water trust land, the fields will have to be moved due to an expanding facility. Meanwhile South Lakes soccer fields on S Meridian will get more lights to better host state-wide tournaments.

Also, 30-plus existing neighborhood parks will get facelifts, with some with the help coming from University of Oklahoma landscape design students, some who provided designs for school projects.

“We did about 10 or 12 neighborhoods meetings back in 2015 to get information from them on how to improve their lives by improving their parks,” says Kupper.

The bond for the Parks Department is $138 million and the first dollars are expected to be spent at the USA Softball Complex. The stadium will get $27.5 million in improvements, with some renovations being done before the next Women's College World Series.