Smith’s Ballpark inches closer to becoming a ‘new entryway’ for Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The jewel and namesake of the Ballpark Neighborhood in Salt Lake City is inching closer to being reimagined into a year-round, fully accessible park and events venue.

On Tuesday, Salt Lake leaders unveiled the final draft for the “partial adaptive reuse plan” for Smith’s Ballpark. The plan will turn the historic site, where baseball has been played since 1928, into a cultural landmark honoring its past while providing a new city venue for festivals, concerts, retail, bars, restaurants, sporting events, and more.

“This is going to be a heartbeat of Salt Lake City and a brand new entryway to the Ballpark Neighborhood,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall.

Earlier this year, city leaders committed to adapting the ballpark following a nearly two-year, community-driven process. In January 2023, shortly after the Salt Lake Bees announced they would be trading Salt Lake for the Daybreak Community in South Jordan, city officials invited Utahns to submit concepts for the 13-acre lot through its “Ballpark NEXT” design competition.

By December 2024, Salt Lake City officials narrowed down the options to either preserve, reuse, or remove the ballpark entirely. The decision to reuse and adapt the ballpark came after one last city council meeting on Dec. 10, 2024.

“The baseball stadium, having the Bees here, was obviously a great asset, but they only activated it a handful of days a year,” said Darin Mano, a Salt Lake City Councilmember whose district encompasses the Ballpark Neighborhood. “We’re looking at something that will activate this neighborhood 365 days a year. It will be a space that we can use for sports and similar events, as well as concerts and art events.”

Mayor Mendenhall said Utahns can also view the project as a “civic campus,” with a future library and the revitalization of a nearby fire station. The redevelopment of Smith’s Ballpark will also include more than 400 units of new housing, which the city’s Community Reinvestment Agency (CRA) said they are working to ensure is developed for ownership.

The final design also includes reintroducing some of the creeks that currently run underground, bringing them to the surface to complete the park aesthetic.

There is no exact timeline for when the ballpark will undergo its redesign. City leaders said a request for proposals to find a housing developer will be made later this year. After that, the ballpark’s redevelopment will be done in four distinct phases, starting with opening up the stadium and adding housing while preserving the west-facing facade and roughly 3,500 bleacher seats.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” said Mendenhall. “This stadium is now going to see a new life that honors its history but really is future-facing and far more public-inclusive than it ever has been.”

While the ballpark goes through its redevelopment, Salt Lake City will get a head start in making it a publicly available space. The CRA said the neighborhood can expect to see several community-driven events, such as farmer’s markets, a luxury car show, and maybe even some more unique events like a comedy show or a dodgeball championship – all of which serve as a preview for what can be done with the ballpark’s redesign.

“I can’t wait to see the future of this neighborhood,” said Mano.

The final design, which can be seen in its entirety on the Ballpark Next website, will be presented to the CRA Board of Directors at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, July 8. There, the board will hear discussions about the design and welcome any public comments.