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West Valley City Journal

Wetland park coming to WVC

Apr 03, 2022 08:19PM ● By Travis Barton

The city is currently in the design process of developing an area near 6600 West and Parkway Boulevard into a wetland park. Pictured here is wetland park in Hong Kong. (Photo by Kwan Youn)

By Travis Barton | [email protected]

Wetland area at 6598 West and Parkway Boulevard is currently being designed to become a wetland park.

The area, currently used primarily as storm water storage and houses the park maintenance facility on its westside, features almost 72 acres of land. In March the West Valley City Council approved a resolution that procured ArcSitio Design, a landscape architect design firm in Salt Lake City, for the design and construction of the entire park.

“We would like to develop it into a wetland park area so the public can see and be educated on stormwater and wetlands,” Jason Eriksen told the council in February. Eriksen is the city’s assistant parks and recreation director.

Eriksen said they’d like the entire park designed now and then split into phases so that as money becomes available, they can move forward immediately rather than continuously returning to the planning phase.

Assisted by the support from the Granite Technical Institute, Utah State Extension program, the National Ability Center and Valley Behavioral Health, Eriksen said they acquired a $2 million Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Grant Award to begin construction. The project altogether is estimated to be $13.5 million.

The planned wetland park is expected to add a new wrinkle to West Valley City’s current park landscape. Centennial Park serves as the city’s largest park and is primarily sports oriented with its soccer and softball fields, outdoor pool, skate park and pump track.

The city also features a majority of community parks, smaller areas that serve as close proximity to neighborhoods.

City officials eyed a wetland park for a number of years now. Parks and Recreation Director Nancy Day told the West Valley Journal in 2018 when the pump track was completed that a wetland park was a possibility for the Parkway Boulevard area pending potential funding, saying at the time it would “fit a different kind of niche.”

ArcSitio Design has worked with multiple governmental entities over the years, the company is responsible for the county’s Wheadon Farm Park in Draper, winning a design award from the American Society of Landscape Architects.

The recently approved agreement is only for design and construction documents. As money for construction becomes available, different areas of the park will be developed.

A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the potential wetland park location would be at 6598 South.