Heritage Park decides against leasing land for development

This Is the Place Heritage Park will no longer be a potential place for commercial development.

After intense public opposition to a 12-acre land lease of the state-owned site, the heritage park's board voted today to no longer pursue the lease option. Instead, the board will consider other funding sources, such as open-space bond money from Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County; money from the transient room tax; and increased state appropriations.

An unlikely group had banded together to save This Is the Place Heritage Park from commercial development. They included Jazz owner Larry Miller; Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson; Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon; developer and park chairman Ellis Ivory; Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve; officials at the Division of State Parks and Recreation; and members Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s staff. They met this week to hammer out a solution.

Miller came to the prak board's meeting today and said he thinks the increased public participation will mean more donations.

"We took a rocky road to get here, but people are reengaged," he said after the meeting.

He added that public leaders who previously did not want to be involved with the park are now offering their help.

The new plan comes after the park's board recommended in March to lease 12 acres to the University of Utah's research park for an administrative building and parking lot.

However, residents, donors and local leaders had loudly opposed the lease and the loss of east-bench open space. A former park curator had started an online petition asking the state to take control of the park.

The Salt Lake City Council on Tuesday sided with the opponents and approved a resolution calling on the Utah State Parks and Recreation board to deny the land lease. The state parks board will meet tonight from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The state parks board had planned to hold a public hearing concerning the lease. Now, after the heritage park board's decision today, Ivory will present the new funding options to the state board.

The state-owned, privately-run park has struggled with financial problems. The heritage park received $2 million in one-time cash from the Legislature last February to keep it afloat after mounting debt nearly forced the park to close its doors.

Shortly after, park leadership was changed, and Ivory became chairman of the park's board. Ivory is also chairman of the Deseret Morning News Board of Directors.

Ivory pitched the land lease idea to bring in a much-needed $400,000 a year to the cash-strapped park. But Miller, a prominent park donor, told the Deseret Morning News last week that he thought the land lease was a mistake. And Anderson penned letters to the park opposing the idea and joined the City Council in the resolution against the lease.

This year, the park received $800,000 in annual state funding and an additional $50,000 from the county's Zoo, Arts and Parks (ZAP) fund.

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E-mail: astowell@desnews.com