A future Salt Lake Valley park isn’t being designed as a place to play

West Valley City • Hoping to enjoy some of the Salt Lake Valley’s wetland habitat? Or take your horse for a trail ride? Or maybe get your kid involved with agriculture?

You’ll be able to do all of that at one planned park in West Valley City once it’s fully built, but it’s going to be a wait — potentially a 15-year wait.

The first bids for the earliest stages of construction of the city’s planned Wetland Park are due back to officials Monday.

The 72-acre parcel west of 6400 West, between Parkway Boulevard and West Beagley Road, features only small stormwater detention ponds and a dilapidated shed for now.

But a city master plan for the tract shows trails for walking and horse riding, boardwalks over marshy areas, an equestrian arena and even a barn where Granite School District students will put their agriculture lessons into action. Once complete, it would be tied for the city’s largest park.

Jamie Young, the parks and recreation director for Utah’s second-largest city, said the diversity of possible activities is what will set the future park apart.

“It’s unique. We have some great parks in our city, and nothing like this that’s natural and educational,” she said. “It’s not really a place to play. There are trails for exercise and being outdoors, but it’s not the same as the other parks we have, and that’s pretty cool.”

Plans for the park sprang from a hope to open up the property to public access, Young said, and offer new opportunities for outdoor recreation and learning.

On a recent visit to the planned park, an American kestrel perched on a tree and two Canada geese rested on a small knoll. The city hopes that scene won’t change with the new park; officials want to protect the habitats of wildlife that already roam the area, including foxes and deer.

Young plans to pay for the project mostly through grants to limit the impact on West Valley City’s budget. However, that means the park will emerge in phases and could take as long as 15 years to complete, depending on funding availability.

The first phase of construction, due for completion by year’s end, includes cleaning up the property, building the main road into the parcel from Parkway Boulevard and installing utilities.

The learning barn, animal pens and corrals would come later. Agriculture students at the Granite Technical Institute, the district’s career and technical education hub, would get to use the facilities for hands-on experience with animals and equipment.

Mandy Chapple, the institute’s principal, is excited to offer new opportunities to students.

“Our animal science classes are some of our more coveted classes here at the GTI. The reality is that a lot of kids are interested in becoming a veterinarian or having animals,” Chapple said. “The problem is we’re [a] very urban district, and so we don’t have the space that a lot of other places do, but [in] those classes, what they do is they understand the anatomy of the animal, they understand how to care … for that animal.”

The hope is that animal science students would be able to use the new spaces at the park to raise their own goats or sheep before selling them at a county fair, gaining important farming skills and boosting their knowledge of the livestock industry. Currently, the school isn’t able to offer students an opportunity to raise their own animals.

Students in natural resources classes might have a part to play at the park as well. Chapple said they could help with planting trees and taking care of the property in the future.

The planned park would also connect to West Valley City’s partially completed, paved Crosstowne Trail that will eventually connect to Stonebridge Golf Course, Decker Lake and the Jordan River Trail.