Robinwood Park Project
In 1981, the City Parks Department of Bartlesville offered a proposal to the
Washington County Soccer Club to develop Robinwood Park into a soccer complex. The
Club was currently spread out with satellite fields over over the county, so this
proposal was needless to say quite attractive.
A committee, the Robinwood Development Committee, was formed with Co-Chairman George
Schneider and Robert M. Kane. Other committee members were: Rod Hover, Bud Kopp,
Wally DeShon, Neal Pehman, Dr. John Foote, Judi Joy, Frank Lacey, W.C. Adams, Robert
Baughman, Eddie Cooper, Cecil Epperly, John Lanning, J.R. Litterell, Greg Ludington,
Dr. Harris Moreland, Arnold Schaffer, C.J. Silas, George Sneed, Tom Theobald, Joe
Williams, Dr. Tom Wolohan and Ann Woodin.
Excerpts from the proposal:
- The Washington County Soccer Club is an unincorporated, non-profit,
all volunteer organization formed to promote youth soccer in the Bartlesville area.
It was founded in 1978 when it became apparent that the interest of young people
in soccer was growing and would require organization and support from parents and
others in the community. The Club is affiliated with the Green Country Soccer Association
headquartered in Tulsa through which it enjoys tax exempt status.
Registration is open to all boys and girls in Washington County. Boys and Girls teams
of approximately 15 players are formed on a neighborhood basis in age level groups
starting with thouse under 8 years of age and going up through under 10, under 12,
under 14, under 16, and under 19 year age groups. In 1978 there were about 200 players
registered and from these 13 teams were organized. In the fall of 1981, 1,135 boys
and girls registered forming 88 teams. The teams are coached and amnaged by parents
or other interested persons. There is a referee for each game, and both coaches and
referees receive professional training through programs coordinated with the Green
Country Soccer Association. During the fall of 1981, 425 adult volunteers were involved
in supporting the program in various capacities from coaching and refereeing to field
care, registration, scheduling and other functions.
The Club's only regular funding comes from the $7.00 registration fee charged to
each player. This amount must cover insurance for the player, administrative expensees,
and all the recurring costs for balls, nets, lime, and the like. It is insufficient
to permit capital expenditures for equipment and field development.
The soccer fields available to the Club to this time have consisted largely of school
playgrounds, or open areas owned by churches and other organizations. The Club has
been granted temporary use of an area of approximately ten acres of land south of
Bartlesville where it has developed a compled of three soccer fields with a fourth
to open in the spring of 1982. Because of the Club's ability to use the areas must
be reconfirmed on a year-to-year basis, it has not been feasible to consider significant
expenditures to further develop such areas.
The Club has also enjoyed the use of the Robinwood Park area for practice and games
for the last three years. However, because Robinwood is located in the flood plain,
and because the soil has never been treated, it is often too wet to play on, or so
dry that large cracks are opened in the soil. This past summer the City allocated
funds to improve the surface and drainage chracteristics of the park. The Park Superintendent
approached the Soccer Club to ask for assistance in developing the area for youth
soccer. After a series of meetings and studies by the Engineering Department of the
City and review of various alternatives, the Robinwood Park Soccer Development Plan
evolved.
Funding for the plan will be obtained on a cooperative basis. The City will supervise
and carry out the work and will be responsible for approximately one-third ($30,000)
of the projected cost. Twenty thousand ($20,000) will come from increased dues for
soccer players, and a fund raising activity to be carried out by the boys and girls
in the program. The Soccer Club will undertake to coordinate an effort to raise the
remaining $40,000 through contributions from the Community.
What the Soccer Club was not expecting, was the opposition to using the Park
as a soccer complex.
On November 19th, 1981, the Park Board accepted a $90,000 proposal from the
Washington County Soccer Club for the development of the park for soccer use. Under
the plan, soccer club and community contributions would provide $60,000: the city
of Bartlesville would provide $30,000. Under the proposal, the playing field would
be improved, mowing equipment would be purchased, a restroom-storage building would
be constructed, and a parking area built. There would be five soccer fields there
compared to the three that are there now.
Some residents of the area opposed the proposal because they felt the soccer development
would create traffic, litter and noise problems.
November 19, 1981
The Bartlesville Park Board voted 4-2 to accept WCSC's $90,000 Robinwood Park improvement
proposal. Mike May, Gertrude Sousa, Woody Blackstock and Joe Cobb voted for the proposal.
Betty Hitzman and chairman Jean Fincher voted against the proposal.
The vote followed more than 3 1/2 hours of discussion and comments from citizens
and members of the board.
Wally DeShon,representing the soccer club, resented the club's proposal.
DeShon said that the club had looked into the possibility of using the land south
of Robinwood Park which was once a city landfill. However, he said the Stae Health
Department might not approve such use, since the field once was a landfill and that
broken glass, a non-bio-degradable material, was in the landfill.
H.D. Finney, 200 Robin Road, a representative of the Robinwood Neighborhood Council,
read a letter which he prepared and which was approved by the council and unaffiliated
property owners in the area. The letter recommended against leasing or dedication
of the park to any sports group which would grant the preferential or exclusive use
of any significant part of the park.
Finney said that he doubted that the state department of health would prohibit the
use of the old landfill for soccer. He said that health official Ken Burns had said
the state didn't have jurisdiction over the use of the facility.
The meeting took an interesting twist when Jean Johansen, a representative of the
local Garden Center, said that in the late 1960's, the city commission approved the
use of Robinwood Park as a garden park. However, the Garden Club does not have funds
at the moment to develop the park.
(From Examiner Enterprise December 2, 1981)
The Bartlesville Garden Center opposed the use of Robinwood Park for soccer. They
stated that the park was designated in the late 1960's as a Garden Park and the center
still intends to develop it in this manner. Following is the text of the Garden Center's
statement:
"For consideration of converting Robinwood Park to a soccer field, the Bartlesville
Garden Center, Inc. representing the nine garden clubs of Bartlesville, has asked
Mrs. Jean Johansen, past president, to prepare a statement of position for the Bartlesville
Garden Center, Inc. Her statement is as follows:
"First, let me assure you that we are not opposed
to soccer. We think soccer is a fine sport and there should be a place for soccer
in Bartlesville. We feel there must be other areas in Bartlesville that would be
more suitable for soccer than Robinwood Park.
We propose another use for Robinwood Park: that it be developed as the Garden Park
of the Bartlesville Park System.
Our organization made this proposal to the City Administration in the late 1960's
and it was approved. At that time the 8.8 acres in the open area was designated for
a Garden Center. Robinwood Park was selected by the Garden Center members because
of the high visibility of the site, the type and depth of the soil, which is necessary
for gardens, and because of its central location, which would have a strong unifying
effect on the City. For years now, the Garden Clubs have planned to develop the open
area into landscaped gardens such as the Muskogee Azalea Gardens, but using plant
materials indigenous to our area.
We have a plan which was developed by Dr. Paul Mitchell of the Ornamental Horticultural
Department of Oklahoma State University after visiting the site and consulting with
the Washington County Extension Director and Steve Owenby of OSU's Landscape Design
Department.
...
We suggest that the soccer group take another look at the possibility of developing
fields in the area north of Adams Blvd. and Silver Lake Road, which is called "the
old landfill site." This is City owned property and as we understand it, is
available now. It would have adequate parking and probably could be used for soccer
without objection from anyone.
---Mrs. Jean Johansen.
January 14, 1982
The Park Board approved by a vote of 6-1 the proposal by WCSC to develop 5 soccer
fields in Robinwood Park. Betty Hitzman voted against the lease proposal.
January 18, 1982
After considerable discussion, the City Commissioners tabled the Robinwood Park lease
proposal until its February meeting. The motion to table cam at 11:43pm after two
and a half hours were spent on the lease proposal. Although the agenda item did not
require a public hearing, the commission allowed several citizens to speak on the
topic. Shortly after 11:30, commissioner Tom Preston moved to cut off the public
input. "The fact that something is on the agenda and the fact that our meetings
are public doesn't mean we have a public hearing."
"We've had a public hearing on this, we've heard all these arguments before,
there's been nothing new proposed tonight whatsoever that we haven't already heard.
We voted at our last meeting to allow soccer at some level to be played and the agenda
item tonight was to discuss the lease proposal in front of us. We've yet as a commission
been able to discuss the lease proposal before us, and it's almost midnight."
1990
WCSC receives a Metitorious Service Award from Keep Oklahoma Beautiful, Inc., in
recognition of WCSC's contributions to community beautification by keeping Robinwood
Park clean.
Bud Kopp
Bud Kopp, the Fields Coordinator, was instrumental in getting the Robinwood
Soccer Complex built as well as coordinating the other fields around town at the
same time.
Bud received the Distinguished Community Service Award from Phillips Petroleum in
May of 1983 for his efforts. An excerpt from the award follows:
As Fields Coordinator for the Washington County Soccer Club for the past 3 years,
B.W. Kopp has devoted literally hundreds of hours of his own time to the development
and maintenance of the game fields used by the Club, donating his personal labor
and coordinating the work of many other volunteers. As a result of his tireless behind
the scenes efforts, the thousand plus youngsters who play soccer each Spring and
Fall have far better and safer fields to play on than would have otherwise been the
case. That is particularly true with respect to the new fields that have been and
are being developed at Robinwood Parks. B. W. Kopp has also devoted considerable
time over the last 3 years as a soccer referee and during the same period has helped
guide the development of recreational soccer as a member of the Washington County
Soccer Club.
Larry Benbrook
The Larry Benbrook soccer fields in Robinwood Park are dedicated to the memory
of Larry Benbrook, who gave countless hours to the Washington County Soccer Club,
enabling thousands of children in Washington County to play the game of soccer.
Larry served as President of the club during 1987. He also served in countless other
ways on the Board as Past-President, Fields Coordinator, Scheduler and others. I
remember I could always find Larry either riding the mower cutting the fields at
Robinwood, creating schedules, always giving his time to the Club.
Larry passed away from a heart attack and it is in his memory that the fields at
Robinwood Park are officially named the Larry Benbrook fields. Larry is missed by
many, but we know that he is still with us every weekend as the games continue.