This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake County could snag enough property in Draper to seed a sprawling regional park that someday could include acres of trails, trees and perhaps a Sugar House Park-style pond.
Price tag: $5 million.
The County Council pulled out its piggy bank Tuesday, voting 8-0 to make an offer on the 64-acre property.
"To get that much land for $5 million - holy mackerel - that is just wonderful," said Lee Colvin, director of the county's real-estate division.
The park would sprout just east of Interstate 15 along Bangerter Parkway - paid for by a $48 million parks and open-space bond that voters approved in 2006.
Although a conservation easement would bar the county from building tennis courts, lighted baseball diamonds or even a recreation center on the property, officials say all those amenities could arise next door on an adjoining Draper-owned property.
The county's portion of the park would resemble tree-scaped Sugar House Park in east Salt Lake City, offering plenty of greenery, occasional pavilions and lots of open space in the fast-growing southeastern suburb of 37,000 people.
The price is right, officials say. So is the location.
"This is exactly at the epicenter of where we said we needed a regional park in that section of the county," County Councilman Jeff Allen said.
And, for Colvin, the purchase is a coup.
"There has never been anything this size in Draper for a reasonable price."
The county's purchase plans for a regional park come less than four months after officials scooped up 1,700 acres of high-mountain forests and sagebrush flats along the Oquirrh Mountains, preserving the largest tract of open space on the valley's west side.