Last Updated on January 3, 2018, 7:29 PM | Published: January 3, 2018
Neighborhood development in core areas of the metro received more attention in the Oklahoma City Council’s first meeting of 2018.
Adventure District
After a year of hearing complaints from business owners, residents and Ward 7 Council member John Pettis, the council voted to give over $226,000 to actively promote the Adventure District surrounding the OkC Zoo and Lincoln Park.
The monies will go to Adventure District, Inc., for staff and a marketing campaign to promote the district
The city defines the Adventure district as “the area bounded by NE 63rd Street on the north, NE 36th Street on the south, North Kelley Avenue, Grand
Boulevard and North Martin Luther King Avenue on the west and I-35 on the east…”
Neighborhood redevelopment
The Council approved funding for the Jefferson Park Neighbors Association to use their hard-won expertise in their own neighborhood redevelopment to target the Epworth View neighborhood.
The neighborhood wraps around OCU on NW 23rd up to NW 30th between N. Pennsylvania Avenue and Classen Boulevard.
The funding comes from the federal Community Development Block Grant Program.
The $115,000 set aside Tuesday will help redevelop one home at 1616 NW 29th St. which will help the low-income family that owns the land and show a concept to others who might be considering investing in further redevelopment there.
Parks rehab
Two of the city’s older parks long in need of rehab will get it in 2018.
McKinley Park at 1300 N. McKinley Ave. and John F. Kennedy Park at 1500 N. Missouri Ave. will have $1.1 million spent on building new basketball courts, sidewalks and other improvements.
The project will use Community Development Block Grant Funds and Strong Neighborhoods Initiative money.
Both parks have not received big improvements for years.
They sit in key locations for improving quality of life for their respective neighborhoods in older parts of the city.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
