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Demolition begins at abandoned Raging Water/Seven Peak water park
Oct 14, 2021, 7:01 PM
Some of the slides that have gone unused at Seven Peaks Water Park since 2018. Photo: Paul Nelson, KSL Newsradio, October 14, 2021
GLENDALE, Utah — It used to be one of the most popular water parks in the state. But now, it’s being torn down. Crews have started the demolition of the old Raging Water/Seven Peaks water park, and city officials still want community input on what should take its place.
Water park holds lots of memories
Even though the facility closed its gates in 2018, the abandoned water park still holds a lot of memories for people living near it. One woman, who wanted to stay anonymous, says she used to visit the park all the time when she was a kid. And it always seemed to be packed on hot summer days.
She said, “As long as I can remember, it has been open. Since I was little.”
Salt Lake City officials say the land can’t be used for anything other than recreation or green space, so no commercial or residential developments will go there. Some Glendale residents say they would rather see the space be dedicated for people living nearby instead of seeing another large attraction that would bring in people from all over the Wasatch Front.
One woman said, “I think, finally, it could be some place for us.”
Even though there are two parks next to what used to be Seven Peaks, some nearby residents say they still don’t have enough open space for what the community needs. One woman says the park across the street fills up when soccer or football games are played there. And the current Glendale Park doesn’t have a lot of room for kids to play. She would like to see meeting places, pavilions and more playgrounds in the future park.
She said, “For how big our neighborhood is, I would definitely want them to expand it a little bit more because parking is kind of small, the park is low-key small and we have a lot of children, now.”
Asking the public to weigh in
Several people have said they would like to see a splash pad where Seven Peaks used to stand. Others have suggested the city make something similar to Liberty Park. Salt Lake City Public Lands Director Kristin Riker says there isn’t enough room to make another Liberty Park. However, they want the community to help them form the “identity” of this new open space.
“It’s 17 acres of green space that’s dedicated to be a park,” Riker said.
City leaders have already opened up discussion with community leaders in Glendale, but they still want more public input. Riker says they’ll have discussions with youth groups about the park in November. And they’ll have more public comment periods in early 2022. They hope to present their final idea in the summer. For now, Riker says they want people to know they’re cleaning up the graffiti and broken down facilities at Seven Peaks.
Riker said, “We want neighbors to know that they can expect to see some changes in the park. We are working on clearing out some of those features that have been an attractive nuisance.”
Some of the slides may be stored for future use. Crews will also crush the concrete to be used as road base.
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