later serve as park superintendent from 1935 to 1940. The design of structures and facilities employed the same National Park Service rustic style that had been used previously at Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Parks. Lake Murray State Park Lodge became the first of seven state-owned resort lodges in 1951. In 2013, the state governor authorized the Department of Tourism to spend up to $15 million to construct a new lodge at Lake Murray State Park. After a number of changes, upgrades and cost overruns, the new lodge was completed in 2017 at a cost of over $30 million. Park description Lake Murray State Park is Oklahoma's oldest and largest state park. The state legislature bought the property for the park for about $90,000 on April 10, 1933. Workers in two Emergency Works Act programs established during the height of the Depression by then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), converged on what had formerly been Chickasaw Nation property in 1933, to begin construction on Lake Murray State Park. It was the first state park built in Oklahoma and is still the largest. At the same time, workers began construction on the castle-looking building later to be called Tucker Tower. During construction, almost 17,000 men worked on the park project for $1.25 a day in wages. The lake was completed in 1937 and opened to the public in 1938. But work on the tower ceased in 1935, reportedly because federal officials decided the project was taking too long to complete and costing too much. And so without windows, doors, floors, or ceilings, the tower was left open to the public and elements. It had been built based on photographs of a European castle taken during World War I by veteran Sen. Fred Tucker, a local legislator for whom the tower is named. Fishing, boating and all water sports are allowed at Lake Murray. Lake Murray Lodge offers guest rooms and suites, cabins, meeting space, The Apple Bin restaurant, and the Parlor. Other activities include boating, swimming, fishing, golfing, picnics, camping, horseback riding, hayrides, hiking, biking, rollerblading, miniature golf and paddle boating. Sports facilities include an 18-hole golf course with a pro shop, tennis courts, softball fields, baseball diamond, horseshoe pits, badminton and volleyball nets. Lake Murray State Park offers an ATV area for 3/4 wheelers, motorcycles and dirt bikes. Other facilities