LEHI, Utah — The future remains uncertain over the hours of the brand-new, $17 million Lehi "Family Park" that sparked community outrage and misbehavior this past weekend.
On Sunday, people cut the locks and removed the gate doors off its hinges so families could play. According to the city, police were involved and escorted visitors off the premises.
Some parents are upset that the park's "current hours" have the facility closed on Sundays. According to the city, that's not officially determined and still needs to be decided.
At Tuesday night's city council meeting, the mayor, councilmembers, and the city's parks and facilities manager listened to public comment and discussed the park's future schedule.
Nothing was decided, but Steve Marchbanks told the council he'd prefer the park to be open seven days a week and closed for the winter.
"What this whole last two weeks has taught us is if we don’t tell them exactly what’s going to happen and exactly how it’s going to happen, people go crazy," said Marchbanks.
He said they'd need to hire a full-time employee and a part-time employee to make that happen.
The new park has been decades in the making and the parts are unique and expensive because it's an all-abilities park. That's why the city says the fence is in place.
Marchbanks said it should be viewed and treated similarly to a public pool or city center.
He said the city has already spent $32,000 since March this year on vandalism costs at its other parks.
The discussion ended with Mayor Mark Johnson saying the city will have to figure out where to find the extra funding if they choose to keep the park open seven days a week.
