LEHI, Utah — Timothy and Britni Ponce couldn’t believe someone broke the lock at the brand-new Family Park Sunday in Lehi. Dozens of residents who thought the park was open were told by police to leave immediately.
“It would be nice if people can just respect that this is an amazing park and all the resources that went into it,” said Britni.
It was déjà vu as the same thing happened the previous Sunday with people not aware that thepark was not supposed to be open, which has caused anger and confusion among residents.
“Somebody took off, took the hinges off the gates to let them in one time," explained Lehi parks and facilities manager Steve Marchbanks. "We actually have a pretty elaborate locking system. They cut the padlock off of it, unfolded it and opened it up again after we changed or locked it down the second time.”
City officials will set the official park hours during Tuesday’s council meeting, but Marchbanks believes the demand for the park to be open on Sundays will be met.
“I think it's a testament of, you know, people want to use the park," he said. "So every time we were back up here, it was full, yet we don't condone people breaking in as it's no different, to me, than a public building.
"If it's locked, it's locked.”
Lehi resident Kevin Hart was with his family at the park Sunday and didn't think it was closed due to so many people being there.
“They should have had this all figured out before they opened up the park, knowing that people are gonna wanna go out there on a Sunday, knowing that the weather is still really nice outside," he said. "I mean, you open up something like this and expect people not to be able to use it seven days a week in the middle of the day? Come on. That's just cruel.”
