Plans for Kearns park moving forward

(TAYLORSVILLE/KEARNS JOURNAL) -- It’s been a long time coming, but a skate park in Kearns will soon be a reality. Construction on the first phase of the Oquirrh Park master plan is slated to start at the end of the summer.

“We will probably have a contractor selected by August and someone out there working by Aug. 1 or thereabouts,” said Walt Gilmore, a planner with Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation. “It could change, certainly, but that’s what we’re working toward right now.”

Phase one of the project includes a skate park to the south of Ed Mayne Street in Oquirrh Park, as well as temporary parking to the north, extension of the street to the west, and the addition of a soccer field and a parking lot.

The current construction plan was approved after a lengthy series of public hearings showed that previous concepts were not popular with residents in surrounding neighborhoods. After some changes were made to the plan, those issues have for the most part been resolved.

“I think they were rightly concerned about parking and extra traffic in the neighborhood,” said Kearns Community Council chairman Kevin Lundy. “They’ve been able to work through a lot of it and addressed the impact they were concerned with in their own neighborhoods.”

Engineering consultants are in the process of submitting the final plans to Salt Lake County for review. The review could take a few weeks, but as soon as it is finished it will be sent to bid and a contractor will be chosen.

The project is being paid for with a $1 million grant from the Zoo, Arts, and Parks fund, as well as another $1 million from Salt Lake County.

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