Bartholomew Park celebrates grand opening during Art City Days
Mitch Mascaro works on the roof of the concession stand at the nearly finished Bartholomew Park in Springville on Wednesday, May 13, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
The freshly stocked, spring-fed pond at Bartholomew Park in Springville, seen on Wednesday, May 13, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
Gary DeHeer waters a new tree at the soon-to-be finished Bartholomew Park in Springville on Wednesday, May 13, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
Wayne Bartholomew Family Park’s grand opening will be held June 13 as a part of Springville’s 50th Art City Days celebration.
”While we’re celebrating everything else we might as well celebrate a brand new park,” said Alex Roylance, Springville’s director of buildings and grounds.
The grand opening will include a ribbon cutting ceremony at 1 p.m. with Springville Mayor Wilford Clyde, and will be followed by a Duct Tape Regatta at 1:30 p.m.
According to Art City Days Co-Chairman Patrick Monney, the idea for a duct tape regatta sprang from wanting to incorporate an event that would be a “kickback” to 50 years ago, as this year marks the celebration’s 50th anniversary.
Participating youth will make “boats” from cardboard and duct tape and see if they can navigate the pond’s outlined course before sinking.
Roylance said although it wasn’t necessarily planned to complete the park during Art City Days, it is fortunate the two events will coincide and allow the city to plan the grand opening as a part of the city’s larger celebration.
The park was built as a water storage facility for irrigation and to improve fish habitat downstream where Hobble Creek enters Utah Lake.
The three-plus acre pond is the main feature of the park located at about 2900 E. Canyon Road. There are also five pavilions for picnics, restrooms and changing rooms, fishing docks and a concession stand.
”This will be one nice facility,” said Rod Oldroyd with the City of Springville. He added they recently stocked the pond with trout, put in the 140-stall parking lot, and completed a paved trail around the pond.
The land for the park came from a purchase from the Bartholomew family. It was selected as an ideal location for a retaining pond to help the endangered June sucker, which spawns downstream.
Hobble Creek has seen other restorations to improve fish habitat, including an increased width of the river corridor near Utah Lake, restored banks and plant vegetation, and added meanders and structures to benefit the June sucker.
Once the environmental requirements were met, the city of Springville added amenities to make the area enjoyable for residents.
The June 13 opening will unveil the first phase of the park. City officials said in March 2014 that development will continue possibly for the next 10 years to improve the park for visitors.