Tulsa's Botanical Garden plans unveiled

The downtown arena isn't the only new attraction coming to Tulsa. Designers revealed the plans for the much-anticipated Oklahoma Centennial Botanical Garden Thursday. <br/><br/>News on 6 anchor Terry

Thursday, September 30th 2004, 3:27 pm

By: News On 6

The downtown arena isn't the only new attraction coming to Tulsa. Designers revealed the plans for the much-anticipated Oklahoma Centennial Botanical Garden Thursday.

News on 6 anchor Terry Hood says Tulsa's botanical gardens at 5300 West 31st Street North, has been in the works for more than five years, but Thursday, the city of Tulsa is one step closer to seeing how the project could bloom.

The $40-million project will be built in phases. Phase one will feature a huge pond with several island gardens and should be completed by Oklahoma's Centennial in 2007.

From there, the gardens will continue to grow into a 300-acre complex with a restaurant, chapel and amphitheater. Pat Woodrum with the Oklahoma Centennial Botanical Garden: "And I see my great-grandchildren coming out here someday, so again, we're building for the future, but it is the Centennial Gardens so we're looking to the past, celebrating the present, and building for the future."

Planners say the botanical garden should attract more than 300,000 people every year.

We'll get a real clear picture of what the garden should look like when the master plans are unveiled early next year.