COLORADO CITY, Ariz. — Children laughed and squealed with delight as the train took them around the park, its horn blowing at crossings.
Their parents whipped out cell phones to capture the moment. It was a new attraction at Cottonwood Park, which has been redesigned with new playgrounds and places for picnicking.
"We had five semi-loads of turf show up and the entire community showed up and laid the turf," said Jeff Barlow, the executive director of the United Effort Plan Trust, which oversees some of the land in Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz.
Once the stronghold of the Fundamentalist LDS Church, Hildale and Colorado City — collectively known as "Short Creek" — have undergone significant changes in recent years. They have been political and cultural. On Thursday, Utah Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson visited the community to meet with community leaders and see firsthand the changes.
"I think this community is absolutely incredible and they are showing how to come together," she told FOX 13 News. "To unite to overcome the past, to turn pain into progress and to make something beautiful come from something that was really destructive in a lot of ways and hurtful to a lot of people."
There is new construction in both towns and new businesses are opening. The community has a bustling new grocery store and a brewery. A recent Fourth of July event in Cottonwood Park drew thousands to celebrate in what Hildale Mayor Donia Jessop called "small town America."
"It’s beautiful here. The fences have come down. Houses are being finished," she said.
The community once lived under the thumb of leader Warren Jeffs, who brought scrutiny from Utah and Arizona authorities after ex-members of the polygamous church began speaking out about abuses they suffered. Jeffs is now serving a life sentence for child sex assault related to underage "marriages," but still leads the church from his prison cell.
The Utah courts took control of the United Effort Plan Trust, a communal property arm of the church over allegations Warren Jeffs and other FLDS leaders mismanaged it. After more than a decade of legal battles, an independent board was put in and reforms were instituted, including subdividing and privatizing the land.
The U.S. Justice Department sued Hildale and Colorado City governments, accusing them of discriminating against non-members of the FLDS Church. The town marshal's office was also accused of acting as a de facto private army of Jeffs. Reforms were enacted there, including overhauling a police force that is now recognized for its efforts to help victims of crime. Recent election cycles ahve ushered in more secular city councils.
"This community has pulled together. The community leaders have shown how to be builders. You’ve got the mayor of Hildale, the mayor of Colorado City working together," Lt. Gov. Henderson said. "The police department now is one unified police department over two cities and two states."
"We’ve gone through a large transformation," said Colorado City Mayor Howard Ream, who took office in January.
Mayor Jessop, who was the first woman and ex-FLDS member elected to lead her community, said they are also experiencing more population shifts. People who grew up in Short Creek have returned, but they also have new residents lured by the beauty of the redrocks and the open spaces.
"I also am asked the question, how do we know that a Warren Jeffs won’t ever come back in the town and take over again? Private land ownership," Mayor Jessop told FOX 13 News. "That’s the answer. We now own our own land."
The mayors are now dealing with a lot of the same issues other communities are experiencing — immense growth and the blessings and challenges it brings.
"We've got apartment complexes going up, single family homes going up, we don’t need the great big houses we have now," Mayor Jessop said. "We need smaller, more affordable housing."
Mayor Ream said Colorado City is experiencing a building boom.
"Almost 40-50% of growth rate in a five year plan," he told FOX 13 News. "We’ve had multiple applications for planning and zoning and it looks greater than 400 homes in the next few years so there’s a lot of infrastructure we’ve got to get going on."
The mayors met with Lt. Gov. Henderson, Utah Dept. of Health & Human Services Executive Director Tracy Gruber and Utah Dept. of Workforce Services Executive Director Casey Cameron about needs the community has from health care to infrastructure and ways the state can support them. They also met with Arizona officials because of the unique nature of the communities straddling the Utah-Arizona border and the need for joint state cooperation.
"The leaders here are doing incredible things and hopefully the state can continue to support," Lt. Gov. Henderson said.
They toured many community sites and upcoming projects designed to improve Short Creek.
"I don't think all of the people's past will ever be left behind," said Mayor Jessop. "Because if it’s left behind, it may be repeated. If we have learned, we have grown from that. We have been built up and become who we are because of that. I never want to forget where I came from and I honor that past. Have we completely healed and transformed? No. Because it's going to take generations to do that. I feel like this generation? We are the healers."
