Source: City of Broken Arrow
The City of Broken Arrow and Keep Broken Arrow Beautiful recently held a grand opening for The Gardens at Central Park, located west of the Central Park Community Center.
The Friday event marked a significant milestone as city officials, community members and the Keep Broken Arrow Beautiful organization celebrated the opening of the sustainable, educational garden, which has been in the making for nearly 14 years.
KBAB chair Sharon Atcheson thanked the city for its partnership in the creation of gardens.
“The synergy that we have in Broken Arrow is hard to explain to people who are not from Broken Arrow,” Atcheson said. “They don’t understand how we work together for the good of Broken Arrow, but that’s what really makes this a special place.”
Atcheson described a bit of the journey that KBAB and the city endured which eventually made The Gardens at Central Park possible. The COVID pandemic slowed KBAB’s fundraising efforts, but KBAB was determined to see this garden come to fruition and continued its annual Rose Festival once it became safe to do so.
Another significant development came when Bobby Nelson donated $10,000 in honor of his father and mother Jim and Peggy Nelson.
“That’s when we came up with what the garden would look like. It put a vision in front of everybody,” Atcheson said.
A plaque will be installed on the pergola in the Nelson’s honor.
Initially, the idea was to create a large rose garden to complement the city’s historic moniker from the 1920s through the 1950s, as the “City of Roses and Sparkling Spring Water.” However, after disease killed many of the roses at the Tulsa Rose Garden at Woodward Park, a decision was made to add a variety of trees, plants, and flowers in addition to the roses.
“Sometimes great things take time, and Sharon Atcheson and Beverly Forester have been tenacious in making sure we stayed on track and got this done,” City Manager Michael Spurgeon said.
Broken Arrow voters who overwhelmingly approved the 2018 General Obligation Bond Package, which included $500,000 toward creating a rose garden at Central Park.
The City’s Engineering and Construction Department, landscape architect R.L. Shears, and contractor Motown Outdoors worked together to bring that vision to life.”
The total cost for the City of Broken Arrow to complete the Gardens at Central Park project is $532,000.
Additionally, KBAB contributed $42,000 for the original landscape architectural design, the water feature, and the pergola. This grand opening celebration marks the beginning of what this beautiful and serene garden will become for generations.
“Our dream has become a reality, it’s finally happened,” added Vice Mayor Johnnie Parks. “We are so grateful to the Broken Arrow residents who supported the GO Bond in 2018, which provided funding. This garden belongs to all of us. This lovely amenity to our city will be a peaceful place for everyone to enjoy and a perfect place for prom, graduation, and family pictures.”
The Gardens of Central Park is a 33,000-square-foot destination garden with open grassy areas and native plants to attract pollinators.
Plantings in the gardens include:
- Large canopy trees: Oaks, Maples, Ginkgoes, and Cypress.
- Ornamental Trees: Oklahoma Redbud, Holly, and Serviceberries.
- Feature plantings: Agastache, Asters, Butterfly Weed, Joe Pye Weed, Phlox, Bee Balm, Sunflower, Bell Flowers, Mexican Hat Plant, Rue, and Roses.
- Herbs: Ornamental Garlic, Chives, Basil, Oregano, Thyme, and Rosemary.
“Building projects that improve our citizens’ quality of life, like The Gardens at Central Park, are some of the most rewarding endeavors we do as a city,” said Mayor Debra Wimpee.
“This garden will become a landmark, distinguishing our city for generations as the trees and plants continue to bloom and grow. By encouraging pollination, The Gardens at Central Park will not only be a beautiful and serene destination for residents and visitors to the community, but it will also encourage sustainability, and it will help Broken Arrow continue to flourish as a community.”
Architectural elements include a pergola, an entry plaza and a water feature. The Gardens at Central Park are situated in a previously underutilized area of Central Park that was once home to the city’s softball fields before they were moved to Arrowhead Park.
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