New community green spaces. A concert venue. Mid-rise family housing. Maybe all of the above — and keep a sliver of baseball history.
As Salt Lake City zeros in on what’s next for Smith’s Ballpark, community members are signaling their support for preserving portions of the soon-to-be vacated stadium at 77 W. 1300 South as part of a transformative mixed-use development with housing, entertainment, park areas and other neighborhood attractions.
Mayor Erin Mendenhall praised the emerging visions Tuesday as “a once-in-a-century opportunity to breathe new life into one of Salt Lake City’s most family-centric spaces while staying true to the heart of the Ballpark neighborhood.”
Salt Lake Bees owner Larry H. Miller Co. says it will complete its move of the team to a new stadium in South Jordan’s Daybreak this year, leaving about 13.5 acres spanning Salt Lake City’s ballpark and an adjacent parking lot available for redevelopment.
(Perkins&Will, via Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency) A diagram showing common themes from public meetings on redeveloping the site of Smith's Ballpark in Salt Lake City as part of remaking the stadium and environs at 77 W. 1300 South.
The city’s Redevelopment Agency hired consultants, led by the firm Perkins&Will, in January to collect public sentiment on how best to repurpose the ballpark site.
The goal: Create a road map called “Ballpark NEXT” for remaking the longtime sports venue as a new destination and health-promoting community resource, with the potential to revitalize surrounding neighborhoods as well.
The work has been buttressed by data analysis on lagging health outcomes among residents in the Ballpark area, with a view to shaping future construction plans to best address their needs.
“This is a robust community-led development project that achieves outcomes that we’ve never seen in the Ballpark neighborhood before,” Mendenhall said, adding that the process could be a “model for ways we do development in other parts of the city.”
Preserve, reuse or demolish?
(Perkins&Will, via Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency) Rendering of a scenario for retaining Smith's Ballpark in Salt Lake City as part of repurposing the stadium and environs at 77 W. 1300 South. This plan, according to the city, calls for a "renovated stadium that could support space for things such as a farmers market, festivals on West Temple, and local retail spaces. A regulation soccer field is also included, expanding the site’s versatility."
City-hired consulting firms on Tuesday unveiled three emerging scenarios: redeploy the 15,400-seat ball field in some other sports capacity, with new amenities around it; adapt and reuse part of the 30-year-old stadium in a bigger, culturally focused project; or demolish it entirely and build a more nature-centered development.
“We do see that as public land,” said Marc Asnis, urban designer and associate with Perkins&Will. “There is a responsibility to really think about this as a place of ecological restoration, a place for open space and nature, and connecting more people to nature within the ballpark.”
All three visions would offer more density and add housing of some kind. All call for more park spaces and for public features such as a produce market or community gathering spots and all seek added public safety aimed at boosting the long-term health of residents.
Making that part of the city more active — and including housing options for future homeownership — were also key takeaways from public comments, said Asnis. Those appear in some form in all three options as well.
But keeping and reimagining portions of the stadium in the pending remake is already leading other options in community support, judging from two public meetings and input from city and RDA officials.
Overall, the city’s consultants report, support for reusing the stadium appears to be part of a strong public desire for the location to remain a city icon and year-round draw to visitors.
“Any of the three of them could work,” said council member Darin Mano, whose district spans the stadium area, but he added he was drawn to reusing the stadium. “I’m very excited to see that the community was also drawn to a similar option for similar reasons.”
Added council member Sarah Young: “Ballpark is the name of this community, so it is part of their identity. I am very grateful in seeing how you incorporated that across all of them to really honor that history and making sure that that’s represented.”
More green, more housing
(Perkins&Will, via Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency) Rendering of a scenario for preserving and reusing a portion of Smith's Ballpark in Salt Lake City as part of repurposing the stadium and environs at 77 W. 1300 South. Under this plan, the western portion of the stadium would be preserved and retrofitted as a performance venue. According to a city statement, in this vision, "a multipurpose green space invites gatherings and festivals, while natural walkways and art installations create a welcoming social atmosphere."
Some community council members said the plan needed more focus on ways to improve the Ballpark community, where several major health metrics for residents trail behind the rest of the city.
“I’m still waiting to be informed how the redevelopment of this fabulous property is going to be realized in a public benefit to families,” said Kristina Robb, who heads the East Liberty Community Council.
Representatives from the Ballpark area called for additional green spaces and tree canopies to, in light of climate change, ease rising temperatures and heat-island effects in the neighborhood.
“Please, just don’t consider the social and health disparities that exist today,” said Amy J. Hawkins, who leads the Ballpark Community Council. “It’s what we’re hoping to provide future generations.”
Other residents, property owners and community council leaders have suggested a range of ideas, including developing a new entertainment venue there, converting existing ground-floor spaces for use by small businesses or creating new open spaces or additional civic uses at the site, such as a public market, vocational school, library or fitness center.
A festival street, homages to nature
(Perkins&Will, via Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency) Rendering of a scenario for demolishing Smith's Ballpark in Salt Lake City as part of repurposing the stadium site and environs at 77 W. 1300 South. This scenario would involve "partially daylighting the three creeks beneath 1300 South and embedding park spaces throughout the site," according to a city statement. "Civic, commercial, and residential uses are seamlessly integrated with nature, creating an inviting and serene urban environment. Tree-lined streets, bike paths, and pocket parks offer opportunities for recreation."
Those offering public input also asked for steps to improve pedestrian and vehicle safety along 1300 South and raised the option of making a new festival street out of West Temple between 1300 South and 1400 South, matching other RDA plans for improvements to the Ballpark neighborhood.
The 4.3-acre city-owned parking lot north of the field is being eyed for multistory housing and/or an aquatic center with an Olympic-size swimming pool, according to scenarios for reusing the site.
Many who weighed in said they wanted a portion of the ballpark preserved as a marker of the site’s baseball legacy. Smith’s Ballpark opened in 1994, replacing what had been Derks Field at that location for decades.
Public input also raised the option of moving the city’s Fire Station No. 8 from 15 W. 1300 South to a new location as part of future plans, partly to improve response times.
There are suggestions as well that new designs include some kind of recognition of the confluence of Red Butte, Emigration and Parleys creeks, where they meet the Jordan River, several blocks west at a city park near 1300 South and 900 West.
The city’s consultants said they will use added public input and RDA direction to choose, refine and add detail to a preferred option and create a single design framework, subject to another go-round of public and RDA review.
The city is then likely to seek bids in March 2025 from the private sector on ways to make the first phase of its vision happen.
