ST. GEORGE — Due to concerns related to event overuse at the St. George Town Square, St. George officials discussed the possibility of moving future events that have used that location in the past to other venues in the city.
“After a summer full of events, we have this,” Shane Moore, the leisure services director for St. George, told the St. George City Council as he pointed to a slide showing a large brown expanse of dirt amid a field of grass.
During a council work meeting held Tuesday evening, Moore said it has become a challenge for his department to keep the grass green and alive at places like the Town Square that see near-constant use. The current state of the field of grass on the west side of the Town Square has necessitated the planting of approximately $10,000 worth of new sod starting Monday.
Additionally, that part of the city’s most-used park will be roped off for six to eight weeks as the new sod roots into the soil.
The need to replace the sod prompted Moore to ask the City Council to consider relocating various events had at the Town Square.
“We want to limit the big events that we have had there,” he said.
Moore recommended Vernon Worthen Park on 400 East and Sandtown Park off North Bluff Street as new locations for some events usually facilitated at the Town Square.
“Are we solving the problem or just trading it for another elsewhere?” Councilman Gregg McArthur said as he asked if moving events to other parks would ruin grass there as well.
Both Sandtown and Vernon Worthen parks have more robust and established grass than Town Square, Moore said.
Moore said he believed part of the problem is that the soil in that part of the Town Square has been compacted and subject to oil leaks in the past. Before the park was built, that part of downtown was used as a parking lot for heavy equipment.
Multiple events are held in the Town Square year-round. Among the biggest are related to the Ironman triathlon and St. George Art Festival. Other events include the Movies in the Park series, Southern Utah Food Fest and St. George Market.
“We really have to encourage them to move,” Moore said of certain events.
While events sponsored by the city directly, like Movies in the Park, likely would remain at the Town Square, other events could be moved to other parks and venues, he said.
One event that has recently moved to Vernon Worthen Park and has been deemed a success is the St. George Downtown Farmers Market. Though it moved from Ancestor Square to the park, it showed Vernon Worthen was a viable spot for more events in the future.
An option to help facilitate moving more events to Vernon Worthen Park is the potential installation of a stage in the park’s southeast corner. Moore said the stage could be paid for through certain grants or tourism dollars applied for through the county.
One reason event organizers love using the Town Square, Moore added, is because it already has a stage, power, water and other amenities. Setting up the same elsewhere would help relieve some of the pressure off the Town Square.
Councilwoman Natalie Larsen asked about using the Dixie Sunbowl next to Vernon Worthen Park to host more events. Moore liked that idea and said that the venue can hold up to 10,000 people.
The Sunbowl traditionally has been the home of the St. George Lions Club Dixie Round-up Rodeo. Outside of that, it isn’t used as often as other city facilities.
While smaller events could be held at Vernon Worthen Park, large ones could be held at the Sunbowl, Moore said. He added that there had been a suggestion to put a concrete bottom in the center of the Sunbowl that would replace the dirt field that has occupied that spot for decades. Doing that would provide additional parking space for any major event held in that part of the city, he said.
No action was taken on the issue beyond verbal approval from the council for Moore’s department to go ahead with the sod replacement at the Town Square.
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