SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — In 2022, voters in Salt Lake City approved the parks, trails and open space general obligation bond, which allocated $85 million to renovate those outdoor spaces so many people love.
Outdoor spaces like Steenblik Park have been undergoing a $750,000 renovation for months, signaling a new chapter for the park so many here grew up with.
"I had my birthday party here, other people had birthday parties here. It’s a really important part of my life,” said Lou Grant, who lives in the neighborhood of Rose Park.
It’s a renovation that the city's been wanting for years.
"There was like a criteria of different parks that hadn't received any investments in a number of years and this was one of the ones that rose to the top as a park in a prime location that was lacking the engagement that we were wanting from a park,” said Kira Johnson, a planner for the city's Public Lands Department.
One of the big reasons Steenblik Park is considered to be in a prime location is because it's in the Rose Park neighborhood, where many children and families live.
Many of those parents have been taking their kids to this park for years.
"Kids have been coming here since they were born, so I mean it's watching them grow up on the slides and learn to climb the walls and learn to climb the cats," Jake Young, who lives in Rose Park, said. "We have a picture of all the kids at every age sitting on top of the cat statues, and it's the neighborhood hangout spot."
Seeing that neighborhood hangout spot get an upgrade is something parents have been waiting for.
"The bridge in between the two main structures is vastly improved. That was like kind of a chokehold that if your kid got into one side and you were on the other, you basically had to go down and go up the other way to go get them,” said Taylor Wright, who lives in Rose Park.
It's an upgrade their kids have been enjoying.
"I'm really glad that the park made new things to help little kids, like that little swing over there. It really is for little kids and I'm really glad,” said Emilia Young, who lives in Rose Park.
"There are ladders and buildings that look like castles and slides with tubes," Dutch Wright, who lives in Rose Park, said. "I love it very much and I hope other kids will too."
Steenblik Park is one of 19 different parks, trails and open spaces that will see improvements soon.