CEDAR CITY — A detention pond was proposed as the future location of a BMX track for bikers of all ages hungry to kick up some dust, one of three parks included in Cedar City’s $60 million budget.
In the recently approved 2022-2023 budget, which went into effect July 1, Cedar City Council approved $1.5 million to build three new parks.
Councilmember Craig Isom asked at a council meeting last month that all plans be presented to the council for approval. Councilmember Terri Hartley concurred with this, adding that the current park budget would not go far on multiple projects of this size.
Finance Director Jason Norris told Cedar City News that plans for each of the parks are still in the early stages and each one presents its own challenges. More funding will likely be required based on the size of each project.
And, if any one park gains momentum, Norris said it will likely be emphasized more than the others.
For a prospective park near Fiddler’s Canyon, the city is working with Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration to potentially swap land parcels to build a small playground near North Main Street that would connect with Fiddler’s Canyon trail, Norris said.
A park on Cross Hollow Road has a proposed location in a detention basin on property assigned to the city by the Armbrust family, he said. The park’s design is still in flux, but the city is leaning toward creating a BMX track. The city also has budgeted funds to connect trails across the nearby hills and has requested approval from the family to obtain the right of way to install a large pipe that can be walked through.
The pipe would be part of an underground section of the Cross Hollow Trail proposed by Mayor Garth Green, which Hartley told Cedar City News she is “adamantly opposed to” for safety concerns.
The third proposed park is in the Iron Springs area off of state Route 56, and Green said at a council meeting last month that Cedar City local Joe Burgess was interested in donating land for the project but was concerned the city will “talk it to death and not get it done.”
“We have three parks totally undecided, none of the property is ours to build a park on,” Green said. “If we don’t put some money in the parks fund, we will be sitting here saying, ‘Golly, we have three parks and haven’t done anything.’ My concern is not where we spend the money, but that we do spend the money on a project.”
Green said that he would like to see at least one of the parks completed, adding that the city has three donors and three “beautiful” locations, and the city needs to move quickly.
“We should not put all eggs in one basket and shun the other two areas,” he said. “We have great opportunities and dilemmas.”
Additionally, $350,00o was earmarked to connect the Cross Hollow and Old Sorrel trails, which would run from the Cross Hollow Arena to the detention pond, which is the proposed location of the BMX track, senior engineer Jonathan Stathis said at last Wednesday’s council meeting.
The project was recently up for bid. Perco Rock submitted a bid of $461,501.10 and VanCon, Inc. submitted a bid of $797,405.00. Stathis said both bids would cover the project’s costs, along with concrete pads where benches and garbage cans would later be added, but excluded materials that could be provided by the city.
To learn more about the city’s current and proposed parks and recreation projects, view the Master Plan at this link.
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