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THE TULSA TRIBUNE, TULSA. OKLAHOMA
'County Farm as Park, Not New Idea'
C-C Legal Aide, Named
to Study Park Proposal
pittance of a budeet running from
$113.000 lor the fiscal year 1~1,
10 the fiscal )'ear 1955-56 when
a park budiet ol $450,000 was
erante<!," he said.
"With a population increase to
254.000, the l~T park board
has been reduced to S4OO.000 or
only $I 58 per dtlzen-abol.lt balf
~hat It' should be 10 gi\'~ Ihe etiy I
a rairly good park'mllntenance
program," Chamberlain declared.
a Penalty ror their indiUerent
attitude."
"e IIld 10\11' operaUnr budrell
ander 'll"bkh the Park Dep,rt..
ment hu had 10 operate tiD
be blamed for the faet our parkll
are not be.lnr kept up like thO,e
In many of Ibe older (IUu,
Utilization of the Tulsa County 1county commissioners are due a
Fann for a metropolitan park 1'1 \'ote of thank, from residents for
not a spur-of-th~mlnute Idea. Jt their falrnen in mak.loi: this
hIS been In the minds oC e1UleDs postponement."
for somt time, AI G. Chamber-l Chamberlain said many hea\'11y
lain, Tulsa Chamber of Commerce populated areas of Ihe city today
leader, told an Eastulnns, Inc. Isti1lfaee a lack of adequate parks
lunebeon audience today. and playgrounds.
Chamberlain, chalnnan ot a "Thill is a ehalleopoJ" prob-chamber
subcommittee on parks lem, and ooe which I, diffieliit
and pbygrounds outlined !.he his- to remed,J in view of bllb Iud
ullin and a lack of avaUable
lIPt-n .n., ,ultable fllr park
JKII'pOlH'$, Illgether with the lack
., ,ufficient fundJ 10 buy Ibem,"
be user1ed.
Robert L. McGowen and David He IIld the c:lty today has some
R. !llllsten, Tu.lsa .ttorney., 50 parks and park siles with an
Tut'Sday ....·en appointed to a approximate total of 125 acrts,
Chamber of Commerce legal or.2!5 per cent of ao acre per
committee to study proposed use 100 dllzens. He said sites now'
of the Tutsa Counts brm as a being studied for use IS playmajor
park. Appolnlmeot was grounds total about 125 acrts.
made by J. W. McLean, commit· and If purcbased. would raise
tee ('hairm.n, who said the men our ,tandard to .335 per cent of
~i." report !.heir findines by Aug. an acre per 100 citizens. The
______________ I'tandard recommended by the
Natlon.1 Recreation Assn. is one
acre per 100 clUzens.
"For our city to reach a goal
of even SO per eent of the national
standard, based on our
present popul.tlon of 254.100, It
"'auld be necessary lor Tulsa to
aequlre 420 addition.l acres for
city parks.
He said there are several rea·
sons why Tulsa's park acreage Is
below the present standard. One
ot them, he S/lld, Is the ··many
changts In our city administrations,
some of which made little,
If any, real effort to handle the
problem of growth, with the
result that we today are paying
lory of the move to convert the
County Farm property for park
use. '
The movement, he said, was
Initiated In July, 19S5, when 'JI.
W. While, 4229 E. 2tith St., wrOts
a letter 10 then-Mayor L. C. Clark
protesUne the sale of the land
for residential purposes and requesting
Its conversion Into a
large park.
Chamberlain said similar lelters
also were sent by several
other Tulsan' on the lime subject.
He pointed to a Tulsa Tribune
quote from Mayor Clark 8S favorIng
tbe plan, lind said that on
July 21, 19S5, a petition signed
by 20 citizens was sent to Clark
commending him lor his comment.
Chamberlain early In 1956 conferred
with Sup\. of Parks O. A.
Zeigler, on the pos.~lbllllles of
the farm for park use. Chamber_
lain said that a fel\' weeks later,
he made a tour of the farm area
and visualized it, potentlalltln
as a park.
He said the Interest ahO~'n In
alopplne sale of the land unttl
dtizens could determine poulbilitlu
of maklne It Into a
metropolitan park "has proven
our dtllens ~ogni:tt the urgent
need lor keeping Ibis tract 01
land for public usage.
"The fact Ihat the sale of the
south 80 leres of the counly
farm, scheduled for July 29, .....
postponed for a period of .Ix
months, clearly Indicate•. " he
declared, "that the effort 10 ...."J,ll
• delay In the sale of tIlll .ere-age
has been succ"slUt. The
