Smith’s Ballpark metamorphosis plans

Image: Salt Lake City Community Agency and Perkins and Will

Salt Lake City (Utah, US) has finally approved a transformational vision for what it wants to see happen at the vacated Smith’s Ballpark – but it is likely to be a long haul from here.

‘The Salt Lake Tribune’ stated that vetted by residents since at least 2024 and adopted recently as a roadmap for the City’s Community Reinvestment Agency the ambitious Ballpark NEXT plan details, in several phases, is how best to remake nearly 15 acres of the former Salt Lake Bees stadium site and the City-owned land to the North.

The 14,511-capacity Smith’s Ballpark is a baseball park in Salt Lake City, Utah, US. It was the home field of the minor league Salt Lake Bees of the Pacific Coast League (a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States) and the collegiate Utah Utes of the Big 12 Conference (a collegiate athletic Conference in the United States).

‘The Salt Lake Tribune’ further stated that the transformation includes converting and reusing a slice of the stadium at 77 W. 1300 South as a new entertainment venue along with building an infusion of housing, green spaces, retail locations, a fire station, and other community amenities over many years.

That longer timeline didn’t dampen optimism about the plan’s ultimate ability to lift the fortunes of the South Central Ballpark neighborhood after the Bees’ 2024 departure for a fresh stadium in South Jordan’s Daybreak.

Daybreak is a massive, 4,000+ acre master-planned, mixed-use community in South Jordan, Utah, built on former mining land.

In the making for nearly three years the City’s finalized blueprint will now be used as a guide for road and other infrastructure work in the neighborhood as well as efforts to attract interest in redevelopment of portions of the site from the private sector.

The Mayor of Salt Lake City Erin Mendenhall said over the Summer that work on adapting a part of the stadium could start as soon as early next year.

The City Council member Darin Mano, acting as the outgoing Chair of the Community Reinvestment Agency, called the Ballpark area “one of the most vibrant and exciting parts of our City and full of potential for the future”.

Mano, who represents Ballpark-centered District 5, counted development of the Ballpark NEXT plan among the Council’s big achievements of his stint in office since 2020.

The supporters hope the plan will eventually bring a cascade of social and economic benefits for the surrounding residents, including a boost from fashioning a marquee entertainment venue for that part of the City. They also hope to create a host of other new gathering places and community resources, restore elements of nature and preserve some of the area’s baseball history.

Keeping the vision afloat, Mano noted, is now a matter of continuing to find public money to maintain momentum along with gauging enthusiasm from the potential partnering developers. The redevelopment plan, he said, “lays out a future that will enhance not just the Ballpark neighborhood, but the whole City”.

Some with a pulse on commercial real estate trends say full build-out of what’s next for the site could be five years away or more citing unfavorable market conditions for key developments.

A salvaged and revamped central portion of the stadium structure and a saved portion of the ballfield would together span up to about 20,000 square feet. The multipurpose venue would offer up to 9,000 spectators large concerts and smaller community events.

The neighbors, meanwhile, have mixed views on the plan’s overall approach with roughly 65 percent of written comments running positive or neutral.

The Ballpark NEXT plan has generally drawn support for its vision to reuse part of the stadium along with its features for improving walkability in the neighborhood and creating new spaces for businesses and community attractions such as a library.

Detractors say the plan has insufficient green space in favor of too much housing and inadequate plans for improving transportation along 1300 South while also lacking a central recreation hub.

The plan dedicates roughly a third of the land, or about five acres, to outdoor public spaces. That includes a series of walkable tree-lined promenades, paths and sports fields as well as a new area called Creek Park which is to be an oasis that will replace parking lots with natural spaces featuring partially surfaced segments of Red Butte, Emigration and Parleys creeks.

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