Kearns residents favor open park design

KEARNS — One resident said her kids want a Ferris wheel and a roller coaster. Another said hers want a water slide to play on in the summers.

Salt Lake County project manager and park planner Angelo Calacino chuckled and smiled as he took those and other resident requests for the new Lodestone Park at an open house Thursday night.

Calacino presented three possible plans for how the new 62-acre park would look based on 3,099 questionnaires sent out to randomly selected residents living within two miles of the site.

Because most residents said they want picnic areas and soft and hard trails for walking and jogging, Calacino's first park plan was mostly open space. The majority of the acreage would be dedicated to "unprogrammed areas," with a community garden, a few small playgrounds and a splash pad. On one side would be a small basketball and tennis court.

"Most parks being built are catering to sports fields," he said. "Now people want more diversity in their parks."

The second plan is more sports oriented. It includes a large mountain bike free-ride course, four multi-use fields, a disk golf course, and volleyball, basketball and tennis courts.

Plan three is a hybrid of the two, with eight multi-use fields, indoor field house and a couple of scattered playgrounds in between.

While all three plans drew resident comment, most people said they favored the first design.

"A lot of us want something more peaceful, more natural," said Ruth Bell, who lives four blocks from the park site. "Something a little quieter." Bell said her three kids, ages 11, 9 and 7, really want a splash pad to play on because the other ones in the valley are crowded.

Renee Layton was also supportive of the more open design, but as the chairwoman of her neighborhood watch group, she was a little worried, too.

"One of my major concerns is who's going to police this park," she said. The park will abut West Valley City, with West Jordan only a few blocks away. Because the area is on the edge of each area's police radar, Layton said she fears the three police agencies might overlook the open space, which would attract crime.

"I am concerned, but I'm still very excited," she said.

West Valley Councilman Corey L. Rushton said the open space is needed and would be well-policed.

"All our parks are all very structured," he said. "People just kind of want that open space."

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