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Fairmont Park to Receive Facelift

Aug 26, 2016 02:39PM ● By Jordan Greene

Part of the Fairmont Park water feature. With the abundance of cattails and lily pads, some think it looks like a swamp. – Jordan Greene

Salt Lake City planners and engineers have been working on a plan to give Fairmont Park a makeover. The Salt Lake City Parks Department is considering new additions to the park to make it a more welcoming and diverse place. The park currently enjoys open grass areas, some playground equipment, an old pond, a skatepark, and a few plazas. The changes would include some additions that would give the park new attractions for park goers.

Fairmont Park is a valued public area for locals and visitors alike. Ashton McDonald, a local who grew up across the street from the park, said, “I used to come to the park every day just to play baseball, or basketball. My friends always played soccer. And, as a kid, we used to get in trouble trying to catch the carp in the pond.”

McDonald still visits it today. McDonald’s story is not unique as many locals enjoy Fairmont park as it is. However, he thinks improvements to the park would make it even better.

The improvement plans include installing several new amenities like a new tennis court or a pickle ball court, or both. They plan on increasing the lighting around the park’s trail for evening park goers as well as add additional lighting at the entrances to make the park more noticeable and attractive. The plans also include an off-leash dog park in the southeast corner, a full basketball court, an amphitheater for events and shows, and a rework of the water feature.

McDonald mentioned that the pond was a particularly sore spot as the water looks dirty, and there is “a lot of crap from the ducks.” So he is glad they are looking at fixing up the water features. “It’s a great park where a lot of people come,” he said and added he would like to see it turned into a more public-events sort of space and hopes that the result will make Fairmont more like Liberty Park.

McDonald, a local musician, said that he is especially excited for the amphitheater so there could be events such as concerts and the surrounding open space could feature farmers markets.

The City is hoping that the renovations will draw more visitors to the park as the extended streetcars will bring more people to the area. They are hoping that the sprucing-up of the park will help beautify one of the areas that leads into Sugar House and has been a bit neglected for some time.

There has been no official deadline set for the plans, though the goal is to have everything ready to meet the streetcar goers when they reach Sugar House.