Vining Park Improvements Focus of Northgate Neighborhood Event Saturday

The residents of Tulsa’s northernmost neighborhood – Northgate – will gather from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Vining Park, 6502 N. Cincinnati Ave., where a new splash pad, jogging trail and other new park features will be opened to the public.

Tours of renovated homes for sale in Northgate can also be arranged during the event.

The park improvements are among the latest developments in a Northgate neighborhood enhancement project that began two years ago. The new park features were funded with Community Development Block Grants totaling $125,000.

This innovative team effort which began in 2005 has been led by Neighborhood Inspections, but several other City departments and divisions, including Public Works, Economic Development, Working In Neighborhoods, Police, Fire, Tulsa Parks and others, have taken part in the on-going effort to revitalize the neighborhood and improve public safety. The project has been managed in cooperation with the Northgate Action Group, an association of neighborhood residents.

Reported crime in the Northgate neighborhood decreased by 39.6 percent from 2004 to 2006, police records show.

“The significant decrease in reported crime and the increased positive housing activity in Northgate shows that the team approach to neighborhood revitalization is working,” said Mayor Kathy Taylor.
Since the project began, more than 30 abandoned or dilapidated homes have been eliminated from the neighborhood. Eleven were rehabilitated by owners while City of Tulsa employees or contractors demolished others. Removing abandoned structures reduces crime by eliminating places that often attract criminal activity.

The project has also brought volunteers workers from church groups into the neighborhood to paint house numbers (so that emergency responders can find homes more quickly) on curbs, remove debris, grass and weeds from lots and rights-of-way, make repairs to numerous homes and provide other services to neighborhood residents.

The Tulsa Housing Authority just completed the sale of the first new home to be built in Northgate since 1981. The new, 3-bedroom home at 321 W. 62nd St. North, was built by contractor Tom McDermitt on a lot donated by the North Peoria Church of Christ. It was sold by Housing Partners of Tulsa,, the non-profit marketing arm of THA, for $75,000.

Tulsa Housing Authority plans to build four more new homes in Northgate in coming months.
Housing Partners of Tulsa is also offering five recently renovated homes in Northgate for $39,900 each. Those homes can be viewed Saturday during the Vining Park celebration. Anyone wanting more information about the renovated homes can contact Kari Burnett at THA at 581-5774.

The Northgate Action Group is hosting the Saturday event at Vining Park to showcase the new park features. Besides the splash pad, there is a new quarter-mile loop trail and two new picnic tables and four benches. New trees, donated by PSO, have also been planted in the park. Dorothy Gatewood, 425-5324, is president of the Northgate Action Group.