In the News

  • At last, a ‘Liberty Park’ for Salt Lake City’s west side: What will it have?

    Posted by · August 30, 2022 9:15 PM

    Salt Lake City’s big regional park planned for the Glendale neighborhood is sure to make a splash with west-siders.

    Why? Because, for starters, it will include a pool.

    “An outdoor pool was probably ranked highest from the community as to an amenity that they wanted to see there,” Kat Maus, public lands planner for the city, said Monday, “so we’ve incorporated that, along with some water-play features.”

    It’s hardly a surprise, given that the area had been home to Raging Waters (at times called Wild Wave and Seven Peaks), a wildly popular water park that fell into disrepair and shut down in 2018.

    But the much-anticipated Glendale Regional Park will offer plenty more to young and old alike — all an outgrowth of a sweeping community-engagement effort.

    Because the park would be next to the Jordan River, the final vision — if approved by the planning commission and City Council — calls for a boardwalk, beach and sand volleyball, along with potential access to the river through docks for kayaks.

    Also included will be hiking and biking trails, basketball and pickleball courts, a playground, a skating ribbon, a sledding hill, a community plaza, a food truck court, even a dog park.

    Residents also desired event spaces, so the city incorporated a lawn with a flex stage into the plan.

    For some community members, the planned park is a testament to what can happen when the city reaches out to discover what residents want.

    “One of the things about the west side that is so remarkable is how diverse and how powerful all of the different communities that make up the west side are,” said Turner Bitton, chair of the Glendale Neighborhood Council. “What we often lack is a physical space to gather to celebrate our cultural festivals.”

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  • Salt Lake City envisions 'bright and colorful' replacement for Raging Waters

    Posted by · August 30, 2022 8:13 PM

    SALT LAKE CITY — The future of the demolished Raging Waters may be as "bright and colorful" as the old water park's slides were.

    In this case, Salt Lake City planners envision radiant-looking playgrounds, plaza spaces and pavilion feature art that not only matches the space's history but also captures the lively culture of the Glendale community.

    This is a key theme that has emerged in a new Glendale Region Park draft master plan, which the Salt Lake City Parks and Public Lands Department released late last week.

    "First and foremost, we really want it to be centered around what the Glendale community wants to see. And what we heard from them in our initial public engagement, is really a bright, vibrant, lively space that kind of reflects the culture and diversity of the Glendale neighborhood itself," said Katherine Maus, a public lands planner for Salt Lake City Public Lands.

    "And second, it's kind of a nod to the old Raging Waters site."

    The future of Glendale Regional Park?

    There are 30 features included in the draft plan, including traditional open picnic and gathering spaces, as well as playgrounds, splash pads, basketball and pickleball courts, a hiking/sledding hill and many other features associated with most city parks. It also has features that connect it with the Jordan River and Jordan River Parkway Trail, such as new boating ramps, restoration of native riparian areas and even a riverside beach large enough for volleyball.

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  • Salt Lake City parks and public lands are getting a new set of eyes and ears

    Posted by · July 18, 2022 7:51 AM

    Rule-breaking parkgoers beware: There’s a new ranger in town.

    Salt Lake City is on the cusp of launching a new park ranger program that officials say will provide educational programming and give public lands a new set of eyes and ears.

    The rangers — 18 of them once fully staffed — are supposed to be a friendly face for visitors to interact with, Public Lands Department spokesperson Luke Allen said. One thing they’re not, he said, are law enforcement officers.

    “But we hope that by having them in the parks, engaging with people,” Allen said, “we can promote voluntary compliance of park rules.”

    They’ll keep an eye out for common issues such as drug and alcohol use in public spaces, unpermitted activities or events, and dogs roaming off-leash.

    Rangers also will be around to respond if issues arise with those experiencing homelessness in parks.

    The program is the first of its kind in Salt Lake City and has been on park officials’ wishlist for years. Last year, an infusion of federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act and internal buy-in from the city meant the park ranger program was a go.

    Rangers will visit all parks, but will be based out of four areas — Liberty Park, Pioneer Park, Fairmont Park and the Jordan River Trail. A pair of rangers will also monitor the foothills trail network for unleashed dogs, people straying from trails and cyclists using electric bikes.

    Before they hit the parks next month, they’ll need complete training with groups including the Volunteers of America, Salt Lake County Animal Services and the Salt Lake City Police Department.

    Once fully operational, they’ll monitor the parks from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.

    (Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) From left, Salt Lake City park rangers Maddie Villalobos, Vanessa Rogan and Cam Eschler play a game of Jenga during Yappy Hour at Pioneer Park, Thursday, July 14, 2022.

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  • What’s new at SLC’s Peace Gardens? The answer disappoints some.

    Posted by · June 20, 2022 6:04 PM

    The International Peace Gardens, Salt Lake City’s salute to the global community, have been a fixture of beauty for 70 years.

    Lush flowers, striking art, a towering replica of the Matterhorn.

    But anyone expecting a new world order anytime soon at the west-side attraction will just have to wait, according to Lee Bollwinkel, the city’s parks division director.

    “The Peace Gardens are full,” Bollwinkel said. “There is no more room.”

    Representatives for countries like Argentina and Azerbaijan want to be included in the monument to world peace along the Jordan River, but a lack of space means they won’t be flying their flags there in the near future.

    The gardens have not welcomed a new nation in more than 20 years. The last country to receive a place there was Tonga, dedicated in 2000, according to Peace Gardens International Academy, a nonprofit advocacy group.

    “How do you go in there and subdivide and make more room for countries,” Bollwinkel said, “when there’s already countries established from way back in the day?”

    There doesn’t appear to be much appetite at City Hall to pay for a review of the gardens, at least not this year. The request didn’t get the nod for funding from a review board or the mayor’s office for this year’s capital improvement budget.

    City Council members could decide to fund the roughly $250,000 project by the Sept. 1 deadline for finalizing which capital projects they’ll bankroll, but that money would need to come out of another project.

    Even if the council did support the proposal, expansion wouldn’t be just around the bend. Bollwinkel said the division would need to submit an additional request for funding to carry out the work after the review is completed and the plan is developed. He estimates it would take at least four or five years for his team to see any construction money.

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  • Salt Lake City has big plans for replacing Raging Waters — and you can help shape them

    Posted by · March 27, 2022 6:03 AM

    Every weekday morning, Ifa Motuliki goes to a church in his Glendale neighborhood, where there are two pickleball courts.

    A year ago, the thought of pinging plastic balls of a solid paddle didn’t cross his mind. He was more of a tennis player. But now, at 70, Motuliki can’t run as fast, so he has taken up a new racket. And he loves it.

    And when Salt Lake City solicited ideas for a regional park, located a mere minute from his home, he knew what he wanted: more pickleball courts on the west side.

    “We travel to West Valley. We go to Murray, too,” he said. “We only have two courts here [at the church]. And it’s too small for us. So I’m hoping that they will consider [building] those courts.”

    The park would be located at the former home of Raging Waters, a wildly popular water park in its heyday located on 17 city-owned acres at 1700 South and 1200 West.

    The attraction (at times called Wild Wave and Seven Peaks) fell into disrepair and shut down in 2018. It became an eyesore and attracted vandals.

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  • Salt Lake City’s homeless residents wait on decision about tiny home village’s fate

    Posted by · March 21, 2022 6:08 AM

    Tony Lambert sits on a hotel room bed poring over YouTube videos of tiny home renderings, an ankle monitor under his sweatpants pinging his location to parole and probation officers.

    At times in recent months, the monitor has pinpointed him sleeping on the stony ground beneath Salt Lake City’s Guadalupe viaduct. Before that, it placed him inside a tent in a different part of town, where he spent Christmas and part of New Year’s Day until authorities kicked him out.

    The 42-year-old Utah native says he’s spent years trapped between homelessness and jail: He can’t find housing because of a felony and eviction on his record, but he needs a reliable address to avoid violating court-imposed requirements. Between this and other probation infractions, he’s been bouncing in and out of lockup for the last five years, ever since his sentencing on a felony drunk driving charge.

    “Every time they send me back, I have to start all over again,” Lambert says.

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  • Salt Lake Public Lands seeks community input for soon to be Glendale Regional Park

    Posted by · March 18, 2022 2:06 AM

    About 100 people gathered Wednesday night at the Glendale-Mountain View Community Learning Center to give their list of priorities for the soon-to-be Glendale Regional Park — formerly the site of the Seven Peaks waterpark.

    The waterpark closed in 2018 and has sat vacant since. Now, the Salt Lake City Public Lands Department is in the process of developing a vision plan for the 17-acre site.

    The city has released two concept plans that include features like an outdoor skating rink, a pool, a lazy river and a multi-use sports court. The first is dubbed “the great outdoors" and the other "Glendale green."

    The great outdoors emphasizes connections to the Jordan River and capitalizes on environmental restoration. The Glendale Green incorporates gathering spaces and has vibrant areas of play and activity for adults and children.

    Nancy Monteith, a senior landscape architect for Salt Lake Corporation, said they have an initial budget of $3.2 million for phase one. She said they’ve been working closely with residents to better understand the needs of the community.

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  • As more people shelter in vehicles, Salt Lake City’s Westside feels the effects

    Posted by · November 01, 2021 10:06 PM

    Westside residents have seen an increase in people living in RVs on the side of roads in their neighborhoods. After a summer of RVs parked along 1700 South between the old Raging Waters property and Redwood Road, it was a major topic of concern at several Glendale Community Council meetings.

    “Residents have reported increased drug activity, trespassing on private property, and unsanitary public health conditions in the area,” said Glendale Community Council Chair Turner Bitton.

    Unauthorized RV communities have also sprung up on 900, 1300 and 2100 South, and further west in the industrial areas.

    “The issue of people living in cars or RVs is not new, but the increase is a symptom of broader economic struggles all across the nation,” said Andrew Johnston, Salt Lake City Director of Homelessness Policy and Outreach.

    According to Johnston, local homelessness providers do not know how many people are living in their vehicles right now, and that the issue is complicated because it is difficult to determine whether occupants of RVs are without homes and/or technically considered unsheltered. “Some RVs are mobile homes that are just traveling through, and some have access to water, power and sewer hookups, which means they would be deemed ‘suitable for human occupancy,’” he said.

    Johnston said that folks who live in their vehicles in the city do so for a variety of reasons, but after talking with many of them, he learned that “most have been priced out of the housing market.”

    Longtime Westside resident, Kevin Hunt, agrees. Hunt has been homeless “off and on” for 35 years. He attributes the growing homelessness problem to a lack of affordable housing. He also said that a divorce, family fall-out, and extensive credit card debt have contributed to him being homeless. He also struggles with alcohol and drug addiction.

    Over the years that Hunt has experienced homelessness, he said he has felt “pretty lonesome.” “I feel like a throw-away,” he said.

    Hunt grew up on Salt Lake City’s Westside on Genessee Ave. in Poplar Grove, a block away from the spot where he was interviewed in the Native Plant Garden near 850 West 900 South. Born in 1963 in Salt Lake City, Hunt grew up with three sisters and two brothers. He attended local schools – Riverside, Parkview, Jordan Junior, and West High – and the 26th Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints near 700 South.

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  • What should happen to old Raging Waters site? Community conversation planned this week

    Posted by · July 13, 2021 12:15 PM

    SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — The abandoned Raging Waters site is finally getting closer to a makeover.

    On Wednesday evening, the city will give an update on the property, which has fallen into disrepair since its shutdown four years ago.

    “There was a lot of vandalism, stripping of copper wire, fires, a couple of injuries from folks,” said Turner Bitton, who leads the Glendale Community Council. “Basically a vacant property that’s been a magnet for problems for the neighbors here.”

    The city will also kick off a process of taking ideas and brainstorming the potential for a large regional park.

    Bitton expects the community engagement period to happen over the next year and then for the redevelopment to begin.

    “We’ve had all kinds of people reaching out to us,” he said, “and as of now, it is a blank slate. It’s about 25 acres. On that piece of land, you could have something like Liberty Park, where you’ve got walking paths, well lit, lots of opportunities for biking and skateboarding and scootering and that type of thing.”

    The community council is hosting a community conversation on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Information is available on the group’s Facebook page.

  • Proposed Townhome Development On West Side Could Take Out One Of Glendale’s ‘Supermercados’

    Posted by · July 02, 2021 12:21 AM

    New townhomes could be coming to Salt Lake City’s west side, and the new construction would replace the Latino supermarket that serves the community there — Tejeda’s Market.

    For many in the Glendale neighborhood, it’s a walkable distance to buy produce. There’s fresh fruit and vegetables — along with Hispanic specialties like a carniceria, pan dulce, and piñatas.

    Glendale Community Council member Turner Bitton said losing a grocery store is concerning, especially one that caters to a particular community. But he added there’s also an economic factor at play.

    “There's just not enough population here in Glendale alone to sustain multiple supermarkets and to sustain those commercial opportunities,” Bitton said.

    According to the proposal submitted to Salt Lake City’s Planning Division, store owner Fabian Tejeda is partnering with Axis Architects on the development. They want to create a residential and commercial establishment — a “live/work” area.

    The Glendale Community Council held an online meeting Wednesday night to discuss the proposal.

    Pierre Langue is design principal with Axis Architects. He said the development aims to increase population density in the area to support local businesses — like a pilates or photography studio.

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