The Oh MY Oakridge (OMO) initiative was created when a small subset of residents began discussing updating a playground near their homes. This conversation led to a broader discussion about all the greenspaces in the community, the age of all playgrounds and the lack of diversity for the range of demographics within Oakridge.

Through engagements with the City of Calgary and other communities, OMO became aware of Master Plan initiatives in other Calgary communities such as Creating Coventry and H2Spaces. It was determined that there would be significant value in building out a comprehensive neighbourhood strategy so that upgrades across the community would be complimentary, supportive of diverse needs, and strategic in fundraising.

The OMO team brought their initiative to the OCA Board who included it as part of a resident survey completed in 2021. The survey had 276 respondents where greenspaces and amenities that drive quality of life were identified as one of the top 3 priorities in the community.

The OMO Team has been partnering with Parks Foundation Calgary and fundraising for two projects: The Master Plan Project & the Oakridge Way Park Project.

Follow Oh MY Oakridge: Upgrading Our Community Greenspaces on Facebook for the most up-to-date information about our project and fundraising activities.

Oakridge was developed primarily in the 1970s, and many of our community greenspaces have changed very little since the neighbourhood was originally built or since play structures were added by the City in the 1990s. As a result, many of these spaces focus on a relatively narrow range of uses and age groups, while others remain underutilized.

As our community demographics continue to shift, we have an opportunity to reimagine how these spaces can be utilized and make our greenspaces more welcoming for children, families, teenagers, seniors, single adults and couples.

We also want to explore how our parks, pathways and open spaces can create more opportunities for recreation, gathering, spending time outdoors and getting to know our neighbours. Spaces that bring people together and strengthen community connections will become increasingly important as Oakridge continues to change.

Rather than considering individual parks or projects in isolation, the Oakridge Greenspace Master Plan gives us an opportunity to look at our community as a whole. Through professional planning, observation and extensive community engagement, we can understand how our greenspaces are being used today and imagine what they could become in the future.

The goal is to develop a shared community vision and a long-term roadmap, identifying opportunities and priorities that can guide future projects, fundraising and grant applications.

After 5+ years of fundraising and planning, we’re excited to share that the Oakridge Greenspace Master Plan is officially underway!

In summer 2026, the Oakridge Community Association contracted a landscape architecture firm to lead the development of the Master Plan.

Starting September 10, we are moving into the first stages of community engagement and data collection, with the launch of our community survey and SOPARC park observations.

Community Survey Now Open!  September 10 to October 10

Our first community-wide survey is now open, and we want to hear from you!

Tell us how you use Oakridge’s parks, pathways and open spaces today, what you value about them, and what you would like to see in the future.

Please help us hear from as much of Oakridge as possible by sharing the survey with your neighbours. We want to hear from people of different ages and stages of life, including those who may not use our greenspaces very often.

If you know a neighbour who may need a little help completing the survey online, please lend them a hand. If you need help yourself, just email us at ohmyoakridge@gmail.com and we’ll arrange for a volunteer to help you complete the survey.

Complete the survey for a chance to win one of three $100 gift cards to local businesses.

First Community Engagement Session | Early November

Once the survey results have been analyzed, we’ll hold our first community engagement session in early November. This will be an opportunity to build on what we heard through the survey, discuss priorities and explore ideas for the future of Oakridge’s greenspaces.

Coril Holdings has made a truly meaningful contribution to Oh My Oakridge, helping turn community ideas into real, lasting improvements to the places we share. Their sponsorship of both the Oakridge Way Park and the Oakridge Master Plan is supporting not just a single project, but a long-term vision for greenspaces that are welcoming, accessible, and built for how our neighbourhood lives, plays, and connects.

Because of partners like Coril, we were able to move from “someday” to “we’re doing it”—creating parks and pathways that invite more time outdoors, more neighbour-to-neighbour connection, and more pride in the community we call home.

We’re sincerely grateful to Coril Holdings for their generosity and belief in Oakridge. Thank you for helping shape a stronger, healthier, more connected community—now and for years to come.

As the first upgrade to one of the neighbourhood’s greenspaces, this project intends to replace the aging playground structures at the Oakridge Way Park with a new, natural-style playground equipment along with the installation of seating in the park area and pathway access from the sidewalk.

Due to the cost of playground equipment, landscaping, a pathway and seating, this has been planned as a multi-phase update. The first phase is building new playground structures, with the goal to be completed in 2024 (fundraising goal of $250,000 for the playground structure). The second phase intends to add a shade structure, increase the seating and, in collaboration with the City, improve accessibility into the park, with anticipated completion in 2026 (fundraising goal of $100,000).

Playground Vendor & Conceptual Design

A Request for Proposal round was facilitated by the Parks Foundation, and the OMO team reviewed submissions in June 2023, and ultimately selected Rockyview Play as the playground designer & builder.

Rockyview Play is an Alberta-based design + build team of play designers, landscape architects, engineers, and certified playground safety inspectors. Rockyview Play’s mission is to provide their clients with play-focused designs that offer an immersive, nature-based experience with designs that are built to encourage playful movement for all ages, inspire creativity and creative expression, and provide elements of fun, exploration, and learning.

The vision for the Oakridge way playground is to include graduated play elements which will open access to a variety of ages and skill levels, and to have pieces for sliding, climbing, swinging and hanging.

The OMO team received the greenlight for a 2024 build from the Parks Foundation and the City of Calgary and are now in the process of refining and finalizing the playground design with Rockyview play.

You can donate directly through the Parks Foundation Calgary website by selecting our projects from the dropdown menu. Any and all amounts are appreciated and bring us closer to our goal!

If your employer uses Benevity to track and match employee donations, consider looking up our projects under the Parks Foundation Calgary projects list.

For those who would like their donations towards the Oakridge Way Playground Update to be recognized, donations under $500 will be recognized as Bronze donors in project communications. Donations $500 or greater will be recognized as Silver ($500-$999), Gold ($1,000-$4,999) or Platinum ($5,000+) donors and included in a modest park installation such as a group plaque.

If you would be interested in having your name(s) included in Project recognition:

1. In the “Additional Comments” section of the webform make note that you would like to share your contact information with the Project organizers to be included in the park recognition AND
2. Send a copy of your donation receipt with name(s) to include for recognition to: ohmyoakridge@gmail.com

Skate With Santa

Coming to the Oakridge Community Centre Arena in December 2026!

Stay Tuned For More Information.

Dear-Long Bottle Drive:

You can contribute to our year-long bottle drive by arranging to have your bottles picked up by Skip The Depot.

All money donated this year will go directly to the playground fund. You stay at home, Skip The Depot picks up your bags, and the money gets transferred to Oh My Oakridge.

We are frequently looking for volunteers to help us with our various fundraising events & activities. For more information, please email us at ohmyoakridge@gmail.com to see what might be coming up.

Like with donations, many employers will match volunteer hours with donation values, so consider logging your volunteer hours through Benevity or other programs.