New Osage Nation exercise complex has walking trail, pickleball courts

The Osage Nation executive branch on Oct. 28 celebrated the completion of the first phase of the development south of Main Street in downtown Pawhuska of a new outdoor health complex.

The complex is located between Lynn Avenue on the east and Kihekah Avenue on the west. It stretches along what once was a depot site for the Midland Valley Railroad. A new concrete walking trail forms a perimeter for it. Pickleball courts, as well as fitness equipment and courses, are available for free public use. Publicly accessible parking is available on three sides.

Casey Johnson, secretary of Development for the Osage Nation, said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony that future additions to the complex are expected to include sports fields. The loop of walking trail will offer safety from motor vehicle traffic to persons walking to lose weight or achieve other health-related goals, he said. Johnson shared that he recently needed to lose weight and ended up walking along public streets, one result of which was that he was nearly run over more than once.

Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear said the continued development of the exercise complex will require additional political and financial support. The Osage Nation executive branch established the facility without the backing of the Osage Nation Congress. Ribbon cuttings for new Osage Nation amenities typically feature recognition for members of Congress, but that was missing Oct. 28.

“We’re working on it every day,” Standing Bear said regarding additional backing for the exercise complex. Standing Bear is in his third four-year term as principal chief and has been an energetic proponent of expanding health, education and housing services.

“It’s real. It’s really happening,” Standing Bear said regarding the exercise complex. “You see, I’ve got to exercise.”

Johnson said that the idea for the new complex came from Osage Nation executive branch deliberations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One of the things we talked about was getting people healthy,” Johnson said. Survey work was done regarding the health of people in Osage County and the results were disturbing, he said.

“And they found that the farther away from Osage County you get, the healthier you get,” Johnson said.

Johnson recently told the Osage News that the executive branch had invested more than $7 million in the exercise complex so far. Funding used to pay for the work came from amounts already approved and available, though not expressly earmarked for the outdoor facility in Pawhuska, he said. The Osage Nation also received donations for the project, he said.

“We’re shooting big on this thing,” Johnson said during the Oct. 28 ribbon cutting. The outdoor complex is located immediately south of the new Osage Nation Visitors Center at the intersection of Lynn Avenue and Main Street, as well as the new Osage Nation health clinic that is under construction on the south side of Main Street.

Standing Bear reiterated the political aspect of the continued development of the exercise complex,

“It’s political. I’ll just say it,” he said, adding that some people apparently don’t agree about the value of the complex. “There is a future to grab ahold of here.”