ENID, Okla. — Enid Regional Development Alliance members voted to sponsor two shade structures in the downtown park planned by the city of Enid.
In a unanimous vote Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, board members decided to pay $10,000 each for the structures, with the costs payable over two years.
The park is planned on city-owned land south of Stride Bank Center, between Grand and Independence.
“They need to have the commitments by September the 30th,” Marcie Mack, ERDA executive director, said before Thursday’s vote. “The first payment is due by Dec. 31.”
The total price of the park has been reported to be around $2.8 million.
The city hired Happy Hour Marketing to provide marketing and campaign services for fundraising for the downtown park.
The campaign has raised just under $1 million, said Nicole Winfield, CEO and lead strategist for Happy Hour Marketing.
“We are still going strong in fundraising, meeting with potential donors and working on follow ups,” she said. “Our goal is to raise $2 million by September 30, and with the generosity that we have already seen from businesses and individuals, I have no doubt that we will make our goal.”
Alaback Design, of Tulsa, is handling the design of the park. Alaback also designed the popular Block 34 park in Stillwater.
During Thursday’s meeting Mack also discussed housing in Enid.
There are 292 homes on the market in Enid, she said, and in July the median listing price in Enid was $219,867.
The greatest need, identified in data from Heartland Forward, a nonprofit think tank partnering with Enid, is for homes that have two bedrooms and two baths, Mack said.
“What is our price point for our median income for Garfield County?” Mack asked. “What price point do the houses need to be at to actually make a difference in this gap?”
Running an analysis with Oklahoma Housing Authority, she said, determined the price needed to be between $145,000 and $180,000, or a house payment of $1,200 to $1,300 per month.
Mayor David Mason, a member of ERDA, asked if the prices are realistic. Taking $145,000 and dividing it by 1,250 square feet for a home comes out to a cost of $116 to build.
“Is that realistic that anyone will build for that?” he asked.
Cost to build is an issue, Mack said.
“How do we make those two (prices) come together? And that’s why we have the gap,” she said. “I mean, that’s why we have the divide, is because to be able to build something for $116 per square foot at the level that people are wanting for home ownership, that’s hard.”
Written by Kevin Hassler and published in the Enid News & Eagle
