Hillcrest Park in Orem, site of former school, now open; more amenities to be added
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- The playground for older kids at Hillcrest Park in Orem officially opened Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, for children to play on. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Tuesday evening and featured speeches from the Orem mayor and other city leaders to announce the opening of the long-awaited park.
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- Orem Mayor David Young announces the official opening of Hillcrest Park in Orem on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, and thanks all who helped make the park a reality.
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- Phase 2 of Hillcrest Park is still under construction but is expected to be complete in the spring of 2024. Phase 2 will include a community center, splash pad and 12 pickleball courts. Phase 1 officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023.
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- The playground for older kids at Hillcrest Park in Orem officially opened Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, for children to play on. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Tuesday evening and featured speeches from the Orem mayor and other city leaders to announce the opening of the long-awaited park.
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- Children play on a playground at Hillcrest Park in Orem, which officially opened Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023.
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- Announced along with the opening of Hillcrest Park in Orem on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, was the purchase of a small train that will be at Orem City events for children to ride. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Hillcrest Park, children and adults rode around the park in the train.
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- A dog and a girl run around the open grass area with a football in hand at the opening of Hillcrest Park in Orem on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023.
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- A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, signaled the official opening of Phase 1 of Hillcrest Park. Orem City Council member Terry Peterson cuts the ribbon alongside other city leaders and officials. Phase 2 of the park is expected to be complete by next spring. The entire park will be over 9 acres and include three playgrounds, disability accessible swings, a half-mile walking path, a large oval grass field, 12 outdoor pickleball courts, a splash pad, a slack line and hammocking area, a community center and more.
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- A baby is pushed on the swing at Hillcrest Park in Orem, which officially opened Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. The swings are disability accessible and for all ages.
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- Children play on a playground at Hillcrest Park in Orem, which officially opened Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023.
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- Children play on a playground at Hillcrest Park in Orem, which officially opened Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023.
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- Announced along with the opening of Hillcrest Park in Orem on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, was the purchase of a small train that will be at Orem City events for children to ride. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Hillcrest Park, children and adults rode around the park in the train.
Hillcrest Park, located at 650 E. 1400 South in Orem, officially opened on Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting and speeches from Orem Mayor David Young, City Council member Terry Peterson and Carol Walker, member of Orem’s Recreation Advisory Board.
When it is completed, the park will span more than 9 acres. It includes three playgrounds — one for little kids, one for older kids and a nature playground — plus disability accessible swings, a half-mile walking path, a large oval grass field, 12 outdoor pickleball courts, a splash pad, a slack line and hammocking area.
A community center, which will be open year-round once completed, will offer a full-length indoor basketball court, two smaller indoor basketball courts for Junior Jazz, three indoor pickleball courts and three full-length volleyball courts. Inside of the community center will also be a family center that has pool tables, game areas and concessions.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, a new fire engine for Orem City also was unveiled, as well as a small train that will be brought to future Orem events. After the ribbon-cutting, the train took children and adults on rides around the park.
“Our No. 1 goal as a city council, as I’ve said before, is to create an environment where families can thrive. We hope this park will be a wonderful place where you can make cherished memories with those you love most,” Young said.
The park is being built in two phases. Two playgrounds, the walking path and grass area encompassed Phase 1 and are now open for the community to use. The community center, splash pad and pickleball courts are scheduled to open next spring.
According to Walker, this is the 21st park in Orem and has been on the master plan for about 10 years. “That’s amazing that a city our size can have that many playgrounds,” she said. “These parks are situated throughout Orem, so wherever you live you have pretty-well quick access to one of the parks. These parks and facilities help us to continue to live our dream of Family City USA.”
According to previous Daily Herald reporting in 2021 when Hillcrest Park was being discussed, one of the biggest reasons to include the gym was the ability to offer winter indoor sport options. The facility could also provide a variety of opportunities for community organizations such as clubs, Scout troops, education classes and family gatherings.
The park replaced Hillcrest Elementary School, which closed in 2019 when Hillcrest Elementary and Scera Park Elementary were merged into Centennial Elementary. Orem bought the school and property in 2019 from Alpine School District, and chose to keep the gymnasium and cafeteria area, including the professional kitchen, bathrooms and a few other rooms of the school, as those sections were built in 2004 and were seismically updated, project manager Lane Gray explained.
This remaining section of Hillcrest Elementary is what will be converted into the community center.
“There is something powerful about a neighborhood school and the spirit that it has,” Peterson said.
Peterson said he and his wife went to the park on Sunday to see the progress and also made their way to the rehab center across the street.
There, he saw an older lady pushing an old man in a wheelchair. She was walking them through the parking lot, in between cars, for their Sunday walk. “Pretty soon, now she can push her husband around this mile track (and) see the grass, see the children playing here, see the adults playing here,” he said. “What a great blessing for our city. It still has a special spirit; this place will always have a special spirit.”
Peterson explained that during the designing and construction process, they ensured patients at the rehab center would have easy access to the park and the pathway, which intentionally was made wide and wheelchair accessible.
The merging of the two elementary schools had caused much controversy between parents in the community and even created talk of a district split. However, the community support for the park has been abundant, City Council member LaNae Millet said. “We found where we have parks that bring people together, it really does create a great sense of community,” she said.
Millet said while the controversial loss and merging of schools was difficult for Orem, “We’ve been able to come together as a community. We’ve been able to, like I said, purchase this property and create something good out of some things that people were unsure about. … That’s the main thing here (that) we can learn from this, is we can have differences of opinion as community members, and we should respect that and take the emotion out of it. And once the decisions are made, we come back together and we unify to create goodness out of whatever situation (and) whatever decisions were made,” Millett said.
By the time the park is completely constructed, it will cost just under $12 million, Gray said. Hillcrest Park did not cause an increase in tax for Orem residents but was paid for through different avenues including saved up money, grants, some of the $16 million Orem received from the federal American Rescue Plan Act during the pandemic and Orem CARE tax.
The Orem CARE tax, which was originally implemented in 2006, represents a minimal portion of local sales tax that is used to provide funding for arts, recreation and parks in Orem. The tax is one-tenth of 1% of local sales tax, or a penny for every $10 spent when shopping in Orem.
Proposition 6, which would renew the Orem CARE tax for 10 more years, is on the ballot for Orem residents this election. Election Day is next Tuesday.
Peterson will not be running for reelection, so these are his last few months as a City Council member. As someone who has pushed the park forward and made it a passion of his, Peterson said, “It’s very emotional for me” to be a part of the ribbon-cutting and see the park finally open before his time is over on the council. He said seeing the park open on Tuesday and people enjoy the park reminded him why he sat through long meetings and put in the work to get the park built. “It’s just good to see something like this happen,” he said.
When Hillcrest Elementary shut down, some people wanted to put high-density apartments on the property, but Peterson pushed against it and lobbied for the park instead — because, he said, he wondered, “Where are the kids going to go?”
“You can take our school (but) you can’t take our heart,” Peterson said.
Many in that neighborhood near the park are not legal residents, he said, which means they do not have a strong voice against or for City Council or school board decisions.
“I don’t care if they are a legal resident or not, they live in our city. They deserve to have the same rights as anybody else,” he said, including the right to have and enjoy a new park in their neighborhood.
