9 Salt Lake City Parks Closed During Windstorm Cleanup
Sep 10, 2020, 3:39 PM | Updated: 5:06 pm
The Salt Lake City Cemetery is one park closed until debris is removed.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said nine city parks will be closed temporarily while crews remove downed trees and look for hazards in remaining trees following Tuesday’s hurricane-force windstorm.
The City is temporarily closing some parks over safety concerns following this week's major windstorm. We want to get people back in these parks as soon as we can, we just ask that the public give us time to ensure they're safe first https://t.co/fogSPPuRsZ #utpol #slc
— SLC Mayor Erin Mendenhall (@slcmayor) September 10, 2020
“It’s hard to see so many of our beloved open spaces upended like this. I know these places, and the big, beautiful trees that inhabit them, hold significance for our residents,” Mendenhall said.
The affected parks are:
- Liberty Park
- Fairmont Park
- Sunnyside Park
- Jordan Park
- Lindsey Gardens
- Richmond Park
- Riverside Park
- Washington Square
- Salt Lake City Cemetery
Mendenhall said the closures were indefinite.
“We don’t want to close our parks. We want to reopen them, very much so,” she said. “As soon as our crews clear through the dangerous trees and nearly downed trees, we will open them as soon as possible.”
A concerning danger is one that is not overly visible.
“If anyone sees a loosened tree that’s as dangerous or more dangerous than a fallen tree, at this point,” she said. “So, there are damaged trees everywhere. We just caution people to take the most care. Don’t let your kids climb on them.”
Once the debris is cleared and the parks reopen, the city will continue to focus on planting new trees, which was a major project before the storm.
“Our Urban Forestry Division has done more this year than we’ve asked them to do in at least a decade. We are doubling the number of trees that we plant this year,” Mendenhall said.
The goal before the storm was to plant 2,000 trees in 2020. Because of the trees trashed in the storm, and normal annual tree losses, the mayor said the city will have a hard time breaking even this year.
