During a Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency meeting Tuesday, Salt Lake City Council members heard three options that are being considered to replace Smith’s Ballpark — but it was clear one option seemed the most appealing to the public and to some council members.
The three options for replacing the ballpark include: reusing the whole stadium for community purposes; using part of the stadium for adaptive use while tearing down part of it; or demolishing it entirely for new development and neighborhood center.
A handful of council members made it clear which option they prefer: the adaptive use option that would leave part of the stadium intact, while demolishing sections for redevelopment.
The three scenarios
To reuse the stadium, the city would largely keep the field infrastructure intact, but it would open the ground floors of the exterior for small businesses, according to a slideshow displayed at the RDA meeting. This option would leave the existing baseball diamond and keep enough room for a soccer field.
The second route would preserve the western portion of the stadium, while tearing down and rebuilding the grandstands to the north. A portion of the playing field would remain, and it could be used for little league baseball games, concerts, night markets and other events. The west stands would hold roughly 4,000 people for events and concerts.
The final scenario would include tearing down the stadium and replacing it with park spaces and a community anchor. In all three scenarios, a parking lot to the north of the ballpark and areas to the south would be developed into a mix of uses.
In a city memo from last month, the redevelopment agency outlined the steps it has taken toward forming the future of Ballpark. Stakeholder listening sessions showed local residents wanted many of the same amenities — a public market, neighborhood space and space for local businesses. Keeping Salt Lake’s Fire Station 8 onsite and improving 1300 South were also priorities the public expressed in community meetings.
All three proposed scenarios include those improvements, as well as West Temple remaining as a planned festival street that could be closed off for events.
Marc Asnis, a project manager at Perkins&Will, the design firm tasked with creating the stadium overhaul, said buildings directly along 1300 South could have a 120-foot maximum height, and maximum heights of other buildings would decrease as they get farther away.
Council reaction
Councilmember Darin Mano, an architect by trade who represents the Ballpark neighborhood, said he was floored to see a scenario that included the existing structures. He said he didn’t think there was a good option to utilize any part of the existing ballpark, but he changed his mind after seeing the potential plans.
Like Mano, Councilmember Alejandro Puy said he was pleasantly surprised seeing the renderings. “I was drawn to one more than the other ones,” Puy said Tuesday.
“They’re all great ideas,” Mano said during the RDA meeting. “Any of the three of them work, but I was very drawn to option two, and I was excited to see that the community was also drawn to a similar option for similar reasons.”
Mano was referencing a community meeting held Monday night between a handful of local groups that gave residents a sneak peak of the plans. Mano said residents were told to “vote with their feet” and stand by the renderings they preferred most. The bulk of residents, he said, preferred the adaptive use plan.
Amy J. Hawkins, chair of the Ballpark Community Council, attended the same meeting. Though she was hesitant to choose one of the three options at the Monday meeting, she told Building Salt Lake she voted for the adaptive use plan.
“I think option two was a great compromise, because I think people see ‘preserve (the entire ballpark)’ and they think status quo,” Hawkins said.
Mayor’s reaction
After the meeting, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall addressed reporters and emphasized that the city still has a ways to go before any final divisions are made on the project. She stopped short of saying which ballpark scenario she preferred, adding, “I’m very much in alignment with the community, but I’m still listening.”
City officials expect to release their preferred outcome for the ballpark in the first quarter of 2025. The large redevelopment opportunity began when the Salt Lake Bees, the AAA club and former tenant of Smith’s Ballpark, announced in 2023 it would move to a new, privately funded stadium in South Jordan’s Daybreak community.
The ballpark site totals 13.5 acres, and Mendenhall emphasized how the city has such a unique opportunity to influence and shape the neighborhood for decades to come.
“I don’t know if we’ve ever been in this position, at least in this century,” Mendenhall said.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify the host of a meeting held on Monday night.
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