Reaves Park to receive new restroom, playground updates as part of city master plan

Reaves Park will receive a new restroom building, children’s playground and enhanced maintenance facilities as part of The Norman Parks and Recreation Master Plan. 

In an interview with OU Daily, Parks and Recreation Director Jason Olsen said some portions of the renovation have already been completed, such as new baseball fields and additional parking. Olsen said the city will begin the next portion of the renovation “immediately.”

New restroom building

Reaves Park will receive a new restroom building after the old restroom closed in summer 2024 when the city found it was not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Olsen said. 

“You're talking about really old infrastructure,” Olsen said, “They don't meet ADA standards. They don't have proper … or modern plumbing in there. It was more of a residential standard.” 

Olsen added that the new restrooms, once completed, will have ADA-compliant spaces. 

“Two of them are going to be highly accessible with changing tables, and one of them (will) have ADA adult-changing tables,” Olsen said.

According to Olsen, the city anticipates restroom construction to cost $400,000 and the ADA accommodations will be integrated into new areas of Reaves Park. Olsen added that the department hoped to build the restrooms last summer, but initial bidding prices were too high.

Olsen said the restrooms will be better designed to accommodate parkgoers and their needs.

“We're going to put six family-style restrooms in there, single occupancy restrooms, and it's going to be open for any member of your family or group to go in there and use that restroom,” Olsen said. 

Olsen noted that the Reaves Park restroom construction aligns with efforts by the city of Norman to update restrooms at all its parks.

“We're trying to clean up a lot of our bathrooms and put new ones out there. Ruby Grant (Park) has new bathrooms. We're about ready to put newer bathrooms out to Saxon Park as well (and) Reaves is going to have these installed, …” Olsen said. “We're also trying to do the same thing (with) Griffin Park.” 

New children’s playground

Olsen said he hopes for a new playground to be installed at Reaves Park, but due to the large cost of the installation, he says the city will need to “figure out” the installation’s finances. The upgrades come after Norman City Council heard a presentation about them in October. 

According to Olsen, the playground could cost anywhere between $600,000 and $1 million, and the city is currently looking for ways to fund the project.

“We're looking to start fundraising or asking through a capital program … to hopefully get that replaced,” Olsen said. 

Olsen said the renovation to the children’s playground is due to age and weathering. 

“(The playground) was built in 1999, (so) it's starting to show its age, …” Olsen said. “It's made of wood, and as you can imagine, 30-year-old wood … eventually starts rotting.” 

New maintenance building, Jenkins Avenue construction 

Olsen said the city will add a new maintenance shelter to help with park upkeep. 

“We're adding a … maintenance shelter on the southeast portion of the park that is going to correlate (with) our baseball program operator that is out (there) as well,” Olsen said. 

Tim Miles, city engineer, told OU Daily in September the project’s second phase encompasses Jenkins Avenue near Reaves Park, where the city is replacing and upgrading underground sewer pipes to help alleviate drainage during severe weather.

Reaves Park is located along Jenkins Avenue near the southern portion of OU’s campus. Jenkins Avenue has been under construction since March.

Olsen said the construction will not impact Reaves Park renovations. 

“They're trying to put a roundabout out here on Jenkins (and) widen both of these lanes a little bit for traffic flow going in and out of campus, …” Olsen said. “It doesn't have any bearing on what goes on in and out of the park.”

This story was edited by Natalie Armour and Thomas Pablo. Vanessa Essien and Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.