Salt Lake City Council members didn't have much to say about Pioneer Park renovations Tuesday night, but residents did. And if those in attendance are any indication, residents like Mayor Rocky Anderson's plans for a park makeover.

The council was scheduled to begin discussions on the city's capital improvements budget, which would include any new funding for Pioneer Park renovations. But other agenda items took too long, so the council tabled the discussion until next week.

Before that, however, more than a dozen residents, business owners and others spoke in support of Anderson's request for more money to fix up the park.

"It is our only inner-city, truly urban park," said a resident who lives near the park.

But for many years, the park has been overrun with drug deals, violence and often aggressive homeless people. Anderson believes his plans will increase legal, positive use of the park and drive away much of the crime and vagrancy.

Tony Caputo, who lives near the park and owns a delicatessen across the street from it, said Pioneer Park has been "almost sinfully neglected over the years."

The council has already approved $600,000 in city funds to supplement a $496,000 federal grant for the first stage of the park's renovation, which will include a dog park, center lawn, cafe, bell tower, historic gardens and volleyball courts. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall and should be finished in spring 2007.

But Anderson's recommendation to the council, developed on the advice of community members who have met for years on how to fix the park, calls for two more stages. It is the second stage to which he wants the council to dedicate $900,000.

Stage two would include a public pavilion, new rest rooms, a food and beverage concession area and a public plaza.

But several council members are reluctant to fund any additional phases before the first phase is complete. The city, they say, has many other basic infrastructure needs that are more crucial.

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