SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City officials have narrowed down a plan for the future of Smith's Ballpark.
The news was announced Tuesday night by Mayor Erin Mendenhall in her annual "State of the City" speech.
When the Salt Lake Bees announced that they'd be moving to a new home stadium in Daybreak, the city began gathering the public's input for what should replace the ballpark in the neighborhood of the same name.
Last month, three final options were presented at a community meeting, with different ideas on what to do with the stadium structure itself:
- Preserve
- Adaptive reuse
- Remove
At the December meeting, the "adaptive reuse" option seemed to be the most popular. And in Mendenhall's speech, she announced that it's the one the city will pursue. She said this plan will "simultaneously create something new while honoring our history."
She said the west wing of the ballpark structure will be "repurposed to house an entertainment venue, creative spaces and retail."
The field will remain an open space: "mixed-use urban space and a safe community park." Outside the walls will be a "Festival Street," to be used for "music and markets and green spaces, hosting everything from quiet mornings to neighborhood celebrations and local businesses."
Renderings also show a public library and a community center/fitness center on the east side of the current ballpark space. It also shows new mixed-use neighborhoods adjacent to the north and south.
Mendenhall said the city will be sharing more details about the plan this spring.
