January 31, 2022
Pioneer Park Vision Plan

After talking to more than 1,000 people at events, reviewing 1,800 online survey responses this summer, and holding stakeholder meetings and workshops this fall, Salt Lake City Public Lands Department is pleased to present its Pioneer Park – Your Downtown Park vision plan.

Visit our Pioneer Park project webpage to watch the video and take a survey to tell us which improvements should be prioritized for construction in 2023. The survey will remain open until February 18, 2022.
Liberty Park Artesian Fountain Reopened!

In August 2021, the artesian drinking fountain at Liberty Park was closed to the public after water quality tests showed the presence of coliform. The Parks Division worked with the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities to address this issue and remove the contamination.

Staff removed the top of the fountain and internal gravel to fully disinfect the feed pipe. Last week, we were able to reopen the fountain after all repairs were made and the fountain tested negative for coliform. Our partners at Public Utilities will continue testing the fountain on a weekly basis. Thank you all for your patience during this closure!
Wanted: Leaders of our New Park Rangers Program

As announced last year, the City will be launching a new Park Ranger Program! We are excited to announce that the first two job positions for this program have been posted - Park Ranger Manager and Park Ranger Supervisor.

The Park Ranger Manager will oversee the overall performance of patrols of the City’s parks and park facilities; development of educational and recreational services through programs, tours, field trips and activities; public engagement and public safety responsibilities; and enforcement of City park rules and regulations and health and sanitary codes in City parks, urban natural areas and trails, in order to improve the livability of the city, the stewardship of public lands, and equitable access and experiences for park visitors.

The Park Ranger Supervisor positions will provide supervisory leadership within this program.

Learn more and apply:
Photo Source: https://www.floridastateparks.org/
What's New at Allen Park?

Allen Park is wonderfully quiet in the wintertime, but behind the scenes, your Public Lands team is anything but quiet.

We are nearing completion of a Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) for Allen Park. This report will dive into the unique background, history, and culture of the space and will help inform future decisions in the park.

After completing the CLR, the next step is to develop an Adaptive Reuse and Activation plan for the park. This plan will involve robust community engagement and will act as a guiding document for activating, preserving, and reimagining Allen Park. Public engagement for this plan is anticipated to begin summer of 2022. Be sure to follow us on social media (links at bottom of email) to stay informed about engagement opportunities.

Meanwhile, Public Lands is responding to critical structural repairs at the park. Damage to the roof of the main Allen home is in need of urgent repair. We are working with the City’s Engineering division right now to determine the most time-sensitive and best solution. We've begun on-site meetings with a contractor and will soon be ready to begin work on the structure.

For the last two years, watering the trees and other plants at the park has been challenging due to aging or non-existent plumbing infrastructure, requiring staff and volunteers to hand water trees throughout the summer. We hope that construction of a water meter and irrigation at the park can begin this summer. In the meantime, our team of stewards will continue to use a pump and water tank system to water the property.

Some of the houses on the site will undergo cleaning in February, which will involve removal of some old refrigerators and water heaters.

Special thanks to the volunteers who have been helping us with watering, landscaping, and other maintenance during the first two years that the City has owned the property! Future volunteer opportunities will be posted on https://stewardship.slc.gov/.
Do You Live in the ELPCO Neighborhood?

These are grants for ELPCO residents to re-imagine and transform their neighborhood into a safer, more engaging, and connected space.

These funds could potentially be used to help fund small improvements to Public Lands' spaces.