Your Connection to Community Beautification

Photo by Riley Coy, Oklahoma Forestry Services

Your Connection to Community Beautification

The Oklahoma City Community Foundation’s investment in our city’s parks and public spaces connects back to 1991, when an Oklahoma City schoolteacher named Margaret Annis Boys designated a $1.5 million gift in her estate to help beautify public lands in Oklahoma County. This gift created the Margaret Annis Boys Trust, which has been a catalyst for additional charitable gifts and community support of our Parks & Public Space Initiative.

Today, the program has awarded more than $3.5 million in grants for hundreds of beautification projects. The collaborative impact can be seen throughout central Oklahoma, from the Margaret Annis Boys Arboretum at Will Rogers Park to neighborhood schools, parks and trails that have become a hub of activity for many families.

Through this work, we have developed valuable partnerships with city and state government agencies, teaming up to strengthen the infrastructure of our community’s parks and greenspaces. We’ve collaborated with the City of Oklahoma City and helped fund projects such as a long-term plan for the city’s park system and a comprehensive tree inventory of public parks.

Most recently, we joined together with Oklahoma Forestry Services and the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG) to commission a tree canopy assessment of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area that will provide invaluable baseline data for managing the city’s urban forest. The cumulative results of the study will help the city shape its approach to

environmental sustainability including air quality and stormwater runoff planning, as well as the location and type of trees that will be planted going forward.

“We will be able to use what we learned through the

study to help plan future tree plantings for parks, school campuses and trails,” said Brian Dougherty, director of the Parks & Public Space Initiative. “By measuring and monitoring the urban tree canopy, we can proactively combat potential threats that can lead to tree canopy loss, and strategically improve our community’s tree cover over time.”

Learn more at occf.org/parks.

FY2019 | Parks & Public Space Initiative

$189,800 grants awarded

•Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG)/Oklahoma Forestry Services - up to $50,000 for Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area Tree Canopy Assessment.

•Bethany Public Schools - $30,000 for a pocket park and futsal court.

•City of Harrah - $22,000 for improvements to Lion’s Park.

•City of Midwest City - $7,600 for trees and benches on the Spirit Trails.

•City of Oklahoma City - up to $20,000 to update the Oklahoma City Parks Master Plan.

•Crown Heights-Edgemere Heights Improvement - $4,200 for trees in Crown Heights Park.

•Fields and Futures - $13,000 for trees and improvements to Jefferson Middle School’s athletic track.

•Myriad Gardens Foundation - $25,000 for the Secret Garden.

•Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma County Cooperative Extension Service - up to $18,000 for outdoor demonstration gardens.