Garden Oaks Elementary School
In 2021, the Alpha Community Foundation of Oklahoma purchased a vacant Oklahoma City Public School building with the goal of converting the facility into a community center. The former Garden Oaks Elementary School is now set to be renovated and revitalized, and will soon serve as a unique and invaluable asset to the surrounding community.
The Institute connected with George Williams of the Alpha Community Foundation in Spring 2022 and invited him to speak to the Environmental Design program’s Capstone course. This iteration of the course focused on abandoned neighborhood schools, and explored how communities can address the challenges and opportunities associated therewith. Mr. Williams shared the story of the Garden Oaks project with the class, and provided great insight into the process of restoring a historic neighborhood school.
The Institute reached out to Mr. Williams to learn more about the project and its stakeholders:
How would you define the mission of your organization?
Founded in January of 2021, the Alpha Community Foundation of Oklahoma was created to revitalize our community through civic engagement, educational outreach, health, wellness and community service.
Could you elaborate on the basic details of the Garden Oaks project a bit?
The Garden Oaks Community Center will have features including a community garden, community library, computer lab, business incubator space, conference rooms to be used by community organizations, classrooms for mentoring, tutoring and enrichment programs centered around STEM education, a recreation area for neighborhood students, and a multipurpose room that can provide free activities for community members, including martial arts, dance, music and exercise classes.
Our four leadership pillars include civic engagement, educational outreach, health and wellness and community service. The Garden Oaks Community Center will be the hub for activities designed around these pillars and will allow us to serve the needs a historically underserved African American community in the northeast Oklahoma City.
With your institutional mission in mind, why did you select Garden Oaks for this project? What challenges or needs will it address for the community, and how?
We had been searching the market for properties that we could utilize for our programs and during that process the former Garden Oaks Elementary School became available. After touring the facility, we submitted our bid to OKCPS, and we were selected. Due to the condition of the property, we knew we would have to raise a substantial amount of funds to get the facility renovated. We are currently on track to open about 10k SF of the facility in spring of 2023 and as we continue to raise funds we will complete the full renovation.
The property sits in the Garden Oaks community (1 mile east of I35). This area of NE OKC has been historically underserved, has high rates of poverty and has some of the worst health and educational outcomes in the OKC Metro.
Establishing this community center will benefit the community in a much-needed way.
How much work is left and when can we expect the school to be fully revitalized?
Phase I construction should be completed by spring of 2023. This will allow us access to about 10,000 SF of the facility. As we continue to fundraise we will complete the remaining work.
Phase I will include the auditorium, two classrooms and a larger multipurpose class. OSU will provide STEM materials for one of the classrooms. The large multipurpose room will be a space for dance and martial arts classes for area students. The other classroom will be set up as a computer lab and library.
Based on what you’ve learned from this project, what advice would you give to others looking to do similar community work?
We want to be a model for others in showing how we can repurpose urban schools that have been abandoned. These once thriving facilities can still serve a purpose in our communities. My advice would be to engage with the community and gather as much support as possible. Put together a good team and do the work for altruistic reasons.
To stay updated on the continuing story of Garden Oaks, be sure to follow The Alpha Foundation of Oklahoma on Instagram (@alphafoundationok). For more information on the Foundation and its work, or to donate to their cause, check out their website.