When spectators during Town Days are looking for a place to sit for the fireworks, they will have a new location to sit.

Riverton City officials decided in May to replace the stretch of area just off 12600 South where the skate park used to be with an open expanse of sod and a tree line.

The area is part of what some residents, and now the council, are calling the city’s “grand entrance” as one of Riverton’s first city markers once entering the city along 12600 South.

Grass and trees were one of eight options city staff presented the Riverton City Council in May, with the simple sod and trees being the choice they could most likely finish in time for Independence Day.

Public Works Director Cary Necaise told the council it will give more space for residents to watch fireworks.

That’s something Councilmember Alexander Johnson often hears from residents; the park is too crowded with not enough space for the Fourth of July fireworks show. Residents having “more space to sit and enjoy it is a really big benefit,” he said.  

Other options presented included a sod and tree line set up with either xeriscaping or a walking path. While conservation garden was promising, it was ultimately deemed too time consuming and not cost-effective. A community garden was considered along with a more pragmatic choice in adding 16 parking stalls.

Two other choices were more recreational and amenity-related which would have seen cornhole concrete pads added to the sod and tree line option. The other option, preferred by city staff, would build futsal and street hockey courts on either side of the entrance road.

The combined cost there would be an estimated $320,000, a price beyond what Johnson was comfortable with now but could revisit in the future.

The council agreed on sod and tree line as the choice with its price set at $35,400, according to Necaise. Various council members voiced this preference given its option to expand in the future without tearing too much up.

Any concern about conservation was tempered as the sod used for the area won’t add to the city’s footprint as sod will be removed from the future skate park site. Necaise also explained water usage won’t increase much beyond what was already being used in that area.

Councilmember Spencer Haymond said this option gives the entrance to the park “additional beauty and character” and leaves it “a little more aesthetically awesome.”

Councilmember Andy Pierucci was in favor, but cautioned a more long-term view to ensure they are intentional in what they choose to do with the area. He noted the park already carries a lot of “nonfunctional turf” and wanted the city to choose “what’s the highest and best use of our public assets.”