Murray Park wins the City Journals’ Park Madness tournament
Jul 23, 2018 10:16AM ● By Kelly Cannon
By Justin Adams | [email protected]
July was national Parks and Recreation month, and we here at the City Journals celebrated with a friendly little tournament to determine the best park in the valley. Each round, the parks went head-to-head in a Facebook poll. Whichever park garnered the most votes moved on to the next round. We called it “Park Madness.”
The tournament had a little bit of everything, from a No. 16 seed upsetting a No. 1 seed to lopsided blowouts to intense down-to-the-wire finishes. Here are our tournament awards:
Park Madness Champion: Murray Park
Murray Park came into the tournament as the No. 6 seed (based on Google reviews) but immediately showed that it was a top contender when it picked up a whopping 88 percent of the vote in its first round matchup with Herriman. It went on to win by large margins in both the semifinal and final. It’s only test was a second round matchup with Riverton, which brings us to…
Most Improved Park: Riverton Park
It’s too bad that Riverton and Murray had to meet in the second round, because that matchup would have made for a great finals. The two parks were neck and neck for the entire two-day voting period, sometimes separated by as little as a tenth of a percentage point. Riverton Park was supported by many residents who voted and commented about how much they love the park. As for the Most Improved Park award? We figured that made sense just because the park was recently reconstructed in 2015.
Rookie of the Tournament: Mountview Park
In a tournament full of parks that have been around for decades, Mountview Park made a lot of noise by making it to the finals as a park that’s less than 10 years old. The Cottonwood Heights Park may not be as well-known throughout the valley, but it was able to beat the likes of West Valley’s Centennial Park, Sugar House Park and Dimple Dell Park on its way to the finals.
Upset of the Tournament: Eastlake Park
Eastlake Park, located in South Jordan/Daybreak would be another good candidate for Rookie of the Tournament, but its first-round upset of the top-seeded Memorial Grove Park in Salt Lake City deserves its own award. Sadly, the Cinderella story stopped there, as Eastlake Park fell in the second round to Dimple Dell Park.
While Murray Park may have won the tournament, the real winners are Salt Lake Valley residents who can visit and play at these amazing parks. We have some great parks and recreation departments that make sure we all have safe, fun and beautiful places to enjoy the summer.
