Posted on February 19, 2007

George Kaiser Family Foundation Pledges $12.4 Million for Riverside Trails

The Tulsa-based George Kaiser Family Foundation has pledged $12.4 million to the River Parks Authority, also in Tulsa, to improve its aging trail system, Fox 23 Online reports.

Funds from the largest private gift in the authority's thirty-two-year history will be used to create a dual-trail system separating pedestrian and bicycle traffic along the banks of the Arkansas River as well as pay for new lighting, improved landscaping, benches, and other amenities. The grant will be combined with $2.9 million in public funds approved last spring by Tulsa voters to widen and resurface the park's asphalt trails. The improvements are expected to be completed within three years and will accelerate the city's plans to develop the riverfront.

"Our goal," said Kaiser Family Foundation executive director Ken Levit, "is [to create] a premiere trail system at River Parks used by and enjoyed by all of us."