First look at Case Community Park flood damage, cleanup day scheduled for Saturday

Sand Springs Parks Director Jeff Edwards surveys damages near the Will Ramsey Softball Complex.

Sand Springs City Council, Parks Advisory Board, and select members of the media were given a tour of the recently flooded Case Community Park Monday evening, getting their first look at the devastation inflicted by recent historic flooding.

More than a hundred acres of Sand Springs’s flagship park was under several feet of water for more than a week this past May. The park has undergone more than $10 million in renovations and improvements over the past five years, and much of that hard work has been undercut by mother nature’s recent fury.

Thankfully, most of the park’s amenities are insured and can be replaced. Additionally, the Parks Department removed more than $200,000 worth of tables, benches, trashcans, and other items prior to the water reaching them.

So far the City of Sand Springs has yet to do any work at Case, and Parks Department staff have been busy helping with volunteer efforts in the recently flooded Meadow Valley subdivision. The City will be hosting a community cleanup day Saturday, June 8th, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The Sand Springs Local Church Network will be working with the Parks Department to provide free lunch for any volunteers who come out.

The BMX Track and Will Ramsey Softball Complex took the brunt of the damage as those two areas are right along the river path and had a strong current running through them. The Roger S. Bush Soccer Complex and Jerry Adair Baseball Park were also flooded, but mainly due to backup from a creek that runs past them. Flood waters reached depths of 3-4 feet in the baseball facilities and 8-10 feet in the soccer fields and deeper parts of the park.

Parks Director Jeff Edwards pointed out that even while flooded, the parks were still serving their community. Case Park lies between the river and the levee, and an 80-acre section of the park is actually owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of the floodplain.

All of the fencing around the softball and BMX parks will likely need to be replaced. The chain link is packed solid with leaves, trash, and other detritus. Much of the fence has collapsed or warped under the pressure from the current, which also eroded around the base of many fence posts.

Much of the electrical systems running through the park will need to be redone, and the concessions and restroom facilities will need extensive rehabbing. All of the artificial turf under the playgrounds will need to be replaced, though the playground equipment itself appears to be undamaged.

None of the disc golf baskets appear to have suffered significant damage, though much of that area has yet to be thoroughly inspected. At present time the grounds are too waterlogged to support heavy vehicles, and the BMX track is cut off due to a downed tree.

Fortunately, the annual Chillin’ ‘n’ Grillin’ festival that normally takes place in Case was already planned to relocate to downtown prior to the flooding, and celebrated its 8th year of festivities without a hitch this past weekend. Unfortunately, the 22nd Annual Sertoma Fireworks Show scheduled for July 3rd has been canceled, as has the 3rd Annual Riverfest, and the Summer Outdoor Movie Series.