Flood-damaged playgrounds reopen in Sand Springs's Case Community Park

The two largest playgrounds in Case Community Park are officially open for visitors. The artificial turf in the playgrounds was ruined during a historic summer 2019 flood that completely submerged the city’s 120-acre flagship park. Now, eight months later,the playground next to the splash pad, and the playground next to the Great Lawn are open to the public.

The park itself opened not long after the flood, due to a community outpouring of volunteer cleanup efforts. The City hosted a cleanup day that saw hundreds of volunteers turn out, then individual groups like the Power of Partial Improvement continued the effort.

The BMX track, soccer fields, basketball court, biking/walking trail, disc golf course, skate park, boat ramp, picnic shelters, and splash pad have been open since July, but the playgrounds were held up due to the turf. The Parks Department had to wait on their insurance company to process the claim, then due to the price of the turf, the project had to go through a public bid process. The project ultimately came in at $45,281.40.

At the City Council December meeting, Council approved a supplemental appropriation of $102,000 to continue repair efforts throughout the park. $35,000 was approved to repair the infield playing surfaces at the Will Ramsey Softball Complex, which suffered the most damage of the park’s facilities. Not only was the grading ruined by the powerful river current, but most of the fencing was ruined, as was the playground turf and the concessions building.

The playground turf at both the Softball and Baseball complexes are still in need of replacement, but should be finished soon.