Salt Lake Bees ticket account executives Tanner Lund and Sam Cook look at renditions of new plans for the Ballpark neighborhood, including a new library, during a press conference in Salt Lake City on Monday. (Photo: Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
By Carter Williams, KSL.com | Posted - Nov. 1, 2021 at 5:50 p.m.
SALT LAKE CITY — After Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall finished unveiling a plan to revitalize the city's Ballpark neighborhood, she slowly retreated to a tent set up by a local vendor where she grabbed a drink called a "spa water."
"It has club soda, berries, lemon and lime, and it's very refreshing on this November day," she says, smiling as she stares down at her cup. This drink, which she got from a pop-up street festival set up at Smith's Ballpark, in a way symbolizes what she envisions for this neighborhood in years to come.
Mendenhall on Monday unveiled a draft of the city's "Ballpark Station Area Plan," which among other things, calls for a "festival street" — a place near Smith's Ballpark where residents and local businesses in the neighborhood can hold public markets, festivals and other events that drive interest to the south-central part of the city. The pop-up festival was just a "glimpse" of what the city has in mind, the mayor explained.
The plan also calls for a new city library branch to be built in the neighborhood and a reconfiguration of Utah Transit Authority's TRAX station at 1300 South to make it more accessible. In addition, it calls for efforts to make the area more walkable and to find new uses for Smith's Ballpark on nongame days.
Salt Lake City leaders and neighborhood advocates are hopeful that the plan will be a home run for the neighborhood that has struggled with crime and other issues in recent years. They want the game-day atmosphere from the summer to exist year-round outside of the ballpark.
"This plan lays out what is an ambitious vision for the future of the Ballpark neighborhood," Mendenhall said. "I believe this plan includes any of the key elements we need to move the Ballpark neighborhood forward and help it reach its full potential for generations to come."