Tulsa Apartments Coming Down To Make Way For Gathering Place

Two Tulsa apartment complexes are being demolished to make way for "A Gathering Place." Construction on the $350 million park started last fall, and this is the next phase of the project.

The two apartments being torn down at The Legacy at Riverview and Sundance Apartments, both off Riverside near 31st Street. The Gathering Place will be done in three years, but construction will come later at the site of the apartments, after its cleared of equipment and material used to build the park.

Between the two complexes, there are 577 apartments. At the groundbreaking in September, we reported there wouldn't be much to see until the demolition started here.

Now drivers will see it right along Riverside and working from the road to the back as the apartments are demolished. Nibble by nibble - the first building at Sundance came down.

The demolition follows months of on-site preparation work, with residents being moved out, some of the appliances salvaged, utilities shut off - and now this.

1/4/2014 Related Story: Residents Near Tulsa's Future 'Gathering Place' Brace For Demolition Day

All of the residents who were living in these complexes were notified last July that they would need to move out because the property will soon become a part of A Gathering Place.

"It'll take about six weeks total, so about the middle of February is when we'll be wrapped up with demolition," said Project Manager Jeff Stava.

As the demolition started, construction was underway on the temporary office for the Gathering Place.

It will be there until the park is finished.

Project Manager Jeff Stava cautioned the work will be loud and will create some disruption for traffic on Riverside; especially south of 33rd Street, where dump trucks will leave with the debris.

They'll finish everything on one side of Crow Creek before moving to the other complex. 

"They'll loop around and turn left out of Legacy and go south down Riverside drive. So we'll have a new temporary stop light at the South end of Legacy apartments," Stava said.

The first work at the Legacy apartments is to tear up the parking lot and clear away brick and metal fencing so trucks can get in and out. They'll take out the trees and shrubs, so when the demolition is done, the property will be flat.

"We just ask people to be careful as they drive through, be aware," he said.

The traffic light won't be needed for another couple of weeks and won't stop traffic unless a truck is coming out, so it should not slow down traffic much - though many more delays are coming when construction gets underway.