A Dundee neighbor has set his sights on fixing one of Memorial Park's biggest obstacles: a steep staircase that keeps people with mobility challenges from fully using the historic Omaha landmark. Buey Ray Tut, who is serving as project manager for what's being called the Memorial Park Accessibility Project, identified accessibility as a problem at the park and is now pushing a plan that could see the staircase replaced with a ramp.
A Staircase Standing Between Neighbors and the Park
The project is a community-led initiative aimed at improving safe, equitable access within Memorial Park for people with mobility challenges, according to the Omaha Parks Foundation, which lists the effort as “Memorial Park Accessibility: West Staircase.” As reported by KMTV 3 News Now Omaha, Tut is a Dundee neighbor who took on the role of project manager after identifying accessibility as a challenge at the park, which sits in the Dundee neighborhood of Omaha.
“Not being accessible, for that matter, I think, takes away so much of what the park means to the community at large,” Tut said, per the station's report. He has framed the effort as a matter of personal responsibility, saying that making a difference at home requires taking action.
Bringing a Neighborhood Board on Board
Tut didn't take on the push alone. He reached out to Molly Romero, a board member of the Dundee-Memorial Park Neighborhood Association, about the park's accessibility problems. Romero said Tut pointed out that the park was not accessible, and she agreed, the same account notes.
Romero described Memorial Park as a place of tranquility and restoration, and said improved accessibility would help more people experience a park that holds real significance for the Dundee community. The current plans under discussion involve swapping out a staircase for a ramp, though planners are still weighing that option rather than treating it as settled.
Preliminary Design, Not a Finished Blueprint
The project remains in its first phase, and planners have put together only a preliminary design — the final version has not been locked in, Tut said. Under the current timeline, the team is targeting completion of that first phase and the final design by the end of 2026, with construction penciled in to start in 2027 and the full project expected to wrap up in 2028, per Tut's account relayed to the outlet.
A Park With a History of Reinvention
This wouldn't be the first time Memorial Park has been reshaped for public use. The park underwent its first major renovation since 1948 with the addition of a 2,500-square-foot plaza built between its twin stairways, according to KETV, a project designed by architect Merle Rambo and intended to make the space more accessible for art exhibits and cultural events. Around that same renovation effort, the Omaha Parks Foundation launched a $1.1 million fundraising campaign to build an endowment for future park upgrades.
Broader momentum for park investment appears to be building at the city level, too. Omaha's 2027 parks budget proposal from Mayor John Ewing Jr. includes an increase of roughly 20 percent, KETV reported separately, and the city's interim parks director has said Omaha hopes to renovate as many as six parks in 2027. Councilmember Pete Festersen has also proposed putting $25,000 toward landscaping and repairing cracked stairs near the World War II memorial at Memorial Park.
Tut's Track Record of Local and Global Projects
Tut's push for accessibility fits a pattern of community-focused work. He and his family moved from South Sudan to Omaha when he was young, according to the University of Nebraska Omaha, and he went on to co-found Aqua Africa, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing sustainable clean water access and social development to villages in East Africa. Since its founding in 2011, Aqua Africa has brought clean water access to thousands of people throughout South Sudan, the university noted.
For now, the Memorial Park project remains in its design phase, with no construction date, cost, or finalized plans yet confirmed. Neighbors like Romero say the payoff, if the ramp plan moves forward, would be a park finally open to everyone who wants to experience it.
