Salt Lake City plans to spend another big chunk of $80 million bond to upgrade parks. Here’s how and where.

Salt Lake City is getting ready to spend some more green on its green spaces.

The City Council got its first presentation Tuesday on how Mayor Erin Mendenhall’s administration plans to use a second, nearly $35 million payout from the 2022 voter-approved general obligation parks improvement bond.

Some council members are voicing concerns about the pace of park improvements and City Hall’s capacity to juggle multiple projects at the same time.

A first round of cash from the $80 million bond passed in 2022 has gone toward significant progress in planning various upgrades to parks and green spaces across the city. The second round of funding will pay for further construction at sites such as the new Glendale Regional Park, whimsical Allen Park and along the Jordan River.

“They are very time-consuming but very cheap phases,” Tom Millar, the city’s director of parks planning, said. “Right now we’re moving into fast and expensive phases.”

About $25 million of the 2022 bond has already been spent, Millar told council members. That money is already funding planning and construction of Glendale Regional Park’s first phase as well as a new open space and outdoor classroom on the river near Backman Elementary School.

Now, city planners are preparing for additional work at the Glendale site, where the former Raging Waters facility was located, as well as at other public spaces.

Lion’s share goes to Glendale

The new Glendale park will be the most expensive project funded by the 2022 bond. Its first phase, due to open to the public this fall, will include an all-abilities playground, a food truck plaza and a full basketball court.

Millar told the council that planning for the second phase was also well underway.

Also currently under construction is the new open space and outdoor classroom along the Jordan River west of Backman. The work will eventually reroute the Jordan River Trail to the west bank, add a new bridge and create a new two-acre park area with wildlife viewing and a learning garden. That project is due to wrap up this year.

The paved path has been closed along that stretch since early April due to ongoing public safety issues, as police step up enforcement on drug-dealing and illegal encampments.

On the east side of Utah’s capital, the parks bond has already paid for community engagement and planning documents for parks large and small, including Fairmont Park, Richmond Park and Ida Cotton Park.

Construction is due to begin this year with previously allocated bond dollars on the playgrounds at Liberty Park and Jefferson Park.

Now, parks planners are asking the City Council to sign off on a second tranche of funding.

Glendale Regional Park construction makes up about two–thirds of this second $35 million request. In the second phase, crews will build a splash park, a boat ramp to the river, a skating ribbon and a skate park.

Construction of those park amenities is expected to run from 2026 to 2028.

Along the Jordan River, the city is hoping to use second-tranche money to improve three high-priority parks deeply in need of upgrades: Cottonwood Park, Bend-in-the-River and Modesto Park.

Plans outlined for those areas in the Emerald Ribbon Action Plan released earlier this year include building community porches complete with grills and picnic tables, restoring wetland habitat and adding new play spaces.

Concerns over pace, timing

Elsewhere, officials are hoping to make improvements to Allen Park — Salt Lake City’s “Hobbitville” — for about $3.7 million.

They aim to create construction plans and complete any environmental remediation required at the Fleet Block for $900,000.

That’ll leave a total of $2.7 million for yet-to-be-finalized upgrades to Jefferson Park, Sunnyside Park and a consolidated Warm Springs-North Gateway park.

As the council considered approving the bond’s second round of funding, council member Sarah Young, representing Sugar House-centered District 7, raised concerns from residents who haven’t seen any new amenities at their local parks as yet.

“The reality that I hear from my residents is they’re like ‘I voted for these improvements like way back when,’” Young said. “And we haven’t seen anything transpire in terms of actual changes to the landscape.”

She was particularly interested in adding restrooms, lighting and other safety features to Fairmont Park in the heart of Sugar House. Millar told Young the city would explore ways to prioritize those changes.

Council member Victoria Petro, whose District 1 spans portions of Fairpark, Jordan Meadows, Rose Park and Westpointe neighborhoods, also questioned if City Hall had adequate staff time to pursue the second round of projects.

“This one seems like the largest tranche,” Petro said, “and so, I just worry about capacity and our ability to stay on top of things.”

Millar countered that the second round under the bond involved more construction, which is usually carried out by city subcontractors, so he said wasn’t worried about stretching city staff capacity too thin.

It’s likely Mayor Erin Mendenhall’s administration will ask for additional funding from the bond in a third phase as it prepares to create a new public space at the Fleet Block, make upgrades at Fairmont and make additional park improvements along the river.

The City Council will have to sign off by June on this second phase of funding as a part of the city’s latest budget.