Blair Mansion
Construction began on the B.B. Blair Mansion in 1958 on what was B.B. and Priscilla Blair’s farm. The exterior façade is a close replica of Confederate President Jefferson Davis’ home in Biloxi, Miss. Architect John Duncan Forsyth traveled to Mississippi to take measured drawings of the Davis home. Because the Davis home faced the Gulf and was subject to hurricanes and flooding, the home had an elevated veranda across the front. This was a practical duplication in the case of the Blair mansion because, at the time of its building, the Arkansas River it faced was prone to flooding.
The Blair Mansion was torn down on February 1, 2014 to make way for the construction of the new city park called A Gathering Place For Tulsa that should begin the summer of 2014. The mansion was originally going to be moved by it's owner, but relocation costs made that impossible. The current design of the park didn't include the mansion. Redesigning the park from scratch to include it would have taken too much time and money.
The Creation of River Parks Authority
The River Parks Authority, created by the City of Tulsa and Tulsa County, soon began transforming the riverfront with over $2 million in federal urban renewal funds. The agency’s first project was the conversion of a former railroad bridge at 29th and Riverside into the Pedestrian Bridge, linking the east and west banks of the river. Next came construction of the early phases of the park’s asphalt-surfaced recreation trail with related amenities. To encourage support and use of the new park facilities, public events, such as fireworks and festivals, were introduced to draw people to River Parks to see its potential.
River Parks now includes over 800 acres of land stretching along miles of the Arkansas River. The focal point of the park is its trail system, weaving through open lawns and tree-lined picnic areas, past bronze wildlife sculptures and the seasonal color of native trees and wildflowers. Public events are centered primarily at the River West Festival Park with its amphitheatre and the Reynolds floating stage. Zink Dam and Lake, completed in 1983, have made the river a popular spot for fishing and rowing, while kayaking the “Tulsa Wave” on the river’s west bank is also a popular water sport. Further south, the untamed beauty of the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area rises above the riverbed, offering rugged hiking and equestrian trails, as well as a panoramic view of the city from its summit.