Tulsa is growing a new garden - big time.

Supporters of the future Oklahoma Centennial Botanical Garden say “Thank you, Tulsa” for supporting city bond issues in April. The package includes $12.3 million to improve streets, extend an expressway practically to the Garden gate, and extend water and sewer lines to the site just northwest of downtown Tulsa.

Using matching federal and state money, city officials plan to have much of the work done for the opening of Phase 1 of the Garden in November 2007, the Sooner State’s 100th birthday.

The Oklahoma Centennial Commission ranks the Garden as one of the state’s premier centennial events, and the commission’s Tulsa arm lists it as the flagship Tulsa project for state funding. Phase 1 is expected to cost $15 million.

The $40 million Garden will crown 300 prime acres of prime woodland and prairie in the historic Osage Hills and offer stunning views of the Tulsa skyline. It is expected to be internationally acclaimed and to rival some of the nation’s most stellar showpiece gardens. Annual attendance is projected at 400,000, giving a tremendous impact on Oklahoma’s tourism revenue.

Phase 1 will encompass 60 acres, including a Visitor Center, the Formal Gardens, the Event Lawn, the Children’s Garden, the Watercolor Gardens and a 19-acre lake. Subsequent phases will expand the Visitor Center campus and add many more gardens, a chapel, conservatory and outdoor amphitheater.

With city bond issue money, design, right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation are to begin this summer and road construction will start next spring. The projects involve the widening of two-lane streets from the L.L. Tisdale Expressway west to near the Garden site at 5323 W. 31st Street North. Money from the bond issues also will contribute to Phase I of the Gilcrease Expressway expansion, which will extend southeast of the site.

After five years of visioning, site-selecting and planning, officials for the non- profit entity officially kicked off a $40 million fund-raising drive in 2004. Nationally recognized landscape design firm Marshall Tyler Rausch of Pittsburgh will present the master plan for the garden this summer. The firm has been involved in more than 50 botanical gardens including the U.S. National Arboretum and the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis.

In a 2004 visit to Tulsa, Geoffrey Rausch compared a botanical garden to a museum, only in the case of a garden, the masterpieces are living. Rausch lauded the Osage Hills location. Too often, he said, land for new botanical gardens is undesirable, donated acreage that was passed over for residential and commercial development. Tulsa's site with its natural hills and valleys - plus its cityscape views - is a dream come true for a landscape designer.

The property, formerly the Williams Learning Center, is owned by the private investment group Persimmon Ridge, LLC., which operates the Post Oak Lodge, a conference center on the remaining 800 acres of the property. Persimmon Ridge provided the botanical garden property under a 99-year $1 lease.

Garden visitors will range from school children and local green thumbers seeking the latest in horticultural how-tos to tourists in search of a top-notch garden experience. The Garden won't just be a pretty place to wander. There will be research and educational aspects as well. Horticultural programs will be developed in conjunction with Oklahoma State University, Tulsa Community College and Tulsa Technology Center. Participation by other academic institutions is welcomed and will be explored in the near future.

Pivotal in the success of the garden will be the efforts of certified Master Gardeners, volunteers trained by OSU Cooperative Extension. Barry Fugatt, director of horticulture for the Tulsa Garden Center and former director of OSU Extension-Tulsa, anticipates that the number of Master Gardens could double or triple to serve the needs of the botanical garden.

The Botanical Garden Board and an Honorary Advisory Board of community leaders are conducting fund raising. If you personally would like to help seed the growing, contact Pat Woodrum, executive director, at 728-2707.

Visit the new Botanical Garden Web Site:
Oklahoma Centennial Botanical Garden