I have been a Salt Lake City and Sugar House resident for over 25 years. I have also been a local park lover most of that time.
My love affair with Salt Lake City’s Fairmont Park started in 1999 when I moved nearby, and my husband and I adopted our first energetic mutt, Ginger. She loved Fairmont Park walks; we loved the tree canopy and paths and pond.
In 2017, we heard there was a group formed to care for the park, Friends of Fairmont Park. I jumped as a volunteer to weed the sweet little rose garden and joined in for trash pick-up. I got invested in my park, my neighborhood, and met cool people from our city departments, from Parks, Open Spaces, Urban Forestry and the surrounding blocks. Salt Lake City has invested in Fairmont Park and made it more beautiful and added amenities (upgraded pond, monarch planting garden, pickleball courts, and dog park) with the support of our citizens.
In the past 5 years, however, Fairmont Park has seen increased use, increased love, increased trash, and increased need for safety monitoring as the population of Sugar House has boomed. Investments in staff to maintain the park are needed to ensure the restrooms are usable and the park tidied. We need more support for lighting and to water the dozens of valuable trees we have planted together with Tree Utah over the past four years. We welcome more support to coordinate with volunteer groups like Friends of Fairmont Park and maximize citizen engagement to keep the park beautiful!
As voters we all have a chance to continue shaping the future of our parks, trails, and open spaces throughout Salt Lake City by voting for the General Obligation (GO) Bond. In addition to supporting needed Fairmont Park updates, the GO Bond will also support other great Salt Lake City public spaces, including Allen and Liberty parks, and will also create new parks. We stand for all communities to have the best parks with amenities important to them. And all parks to be safe, open, with great bathrooms, and green space. Please vote “Yes” to support the GO Bond on your November ballot.
Sarah Woolsey, Salt Lake City
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