The Oklahoma City National Memorial, Maps 3 and other partners worked together to plant a Survivor Tree clone in Scissortail Park on the 24th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. Victims and survivors were remembered at the ceremony. The tree is near Union Station and will ensure future generations can share the experience of the original tree as it ages.
MAPS 3’s Scissortail Park is now home to a living symbol of remembrance descended from the Oklahoma City National Memorial’s Survivor Tree.
MAPS 3 Citizens Advisory Board Park Subcommittee Chairwoman Kim Lowe, Oklahoma City National Memorial Executive Director Kari Watkins, Memorial Board of Trustees Chairman Steven Taylor and others helped transplant a Survivor Tree clone Friday near Union Station in Scissortail Park. Oklahoma City Police Department Chaplain Sgt. Charlie Phillips led a prayer as part of a ceremony to transplant the clone on the 24th anniversary of the terrorist attack downtown.
The Survivor Tree is the 110-year-old American Elm that survived the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing on April 19, 1995. Its seedlings have been planted throughout the U.S., but the Scissortail Park tree is one of fewer than a dozen clones.
“On this important day, we plant this Survivor Tree clone knowing that someday it may take the place of the original Survivor Tree that stands guard over the Memorial today,” said Watkins. “This tree has long stood as a symbol of our city’s strength and resilience, and it is only fitting we plant one in the new Scissortail Park marking this important history and connection between these two major gathering places in the heart of our city.”
The clone in Scissortail Park has been growing as a sapling at the home of Bob Johnson, the founding chairman of the Memorial’s Board of Trustees. A crew dug it out shortly before transplanting it during Friday afternoon’s brief ceremony.
“This clone of the Survivor Tree is a symbol of the spirit of the people of Oklahoma City,” said Lowe. “It represents our sense of unity. It reflects our passion for gathering and celebrating life with family and friends. It shows our steadfast commitment to planning and building a better and stronger future for the next generation.”
The transplanted clone is near historic Union Station, 300 SW 7th Street.
About Scissortail Park
Scissortail Park will be 70 acres – the 40-acre Upper Park extending from Oklahoma City Boulevard to the Skydance Bridge. The bridge spans Interstate 40 and connects to the 30-acre Lower Park, which stretches to theOklahoma River.
The Upper Park is under construction now and will open later this year. The Lower Park is scheduled to open in 2021.
Scissortail Park is one of the debt-free MAPS 3 projects funded by the temporary penny sales tax that expired Dec. 31, 2017.