About Myriad Botanical Gardens

Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Owner: Myriad Gardens Foundation
Designers: OJB-Office of James Burnett, Murase Associates, et al
Size: 15 acres
Project website: www.myriadgardens.org

Between 2009-2011, the City of Oklahoma City in coordination with the Myriad Gardens Foundation and Alliance for Economic Development, invested over $42 million to completely transform the Myriad Botanical Gardens. The goals of the project were to take the highly-underused yet prime 15-acre urban downtown garden and park site that had fallen into disrepair, and completely redesign all outdoor areas into a state-of-the art, beautiful, green and highly-active destination to improve the quality of life in Oklahoma City and continue the renaissance of the entire downtown.

The Gardens include: a children’s garden and playground, performance stages, Great Lawn, interactive water features, restaurants, seasonal ice rink, multiple outdoor seating and tables, beautiful native plant and ornamental gardens and more. The site now attracts over 1,000,000 people a year with year-round activities and events for all ages and diverse audiences.

In order to maximize funding potential, a private/public partnership was formed so the nonprofit, Myriad Gardens Foundation, could take on the management and direct earned revenue and fundraising to ensure financial stability and raise funds needed to maintain the space throughout the year.