South Ogden officials formally open Burch Creek Park: ‘It’s awesome here’
Kids try out the playground equipment at Burch Creek Park in South Ogden on Thursday, April 15, 2021, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark its opening.
Kids try out the playground equipment at Burch Creek Park in South Ogden on Thursday, April 15, 2021, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark its opening.
Kids try out the playground equipment at Burch Creek Park in South Ogden on Thursday, April 15, 2021, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark its opening.
Weber School District Superintendent Jeff Stephens speaks at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Burch Creek Park in South Ogden on Thursday, April 15, 2021.
SOUTH OGDEN — After a year-and-a-half of waiting, South Ogden kids and adults have a new place to play.
Mayor Russ Porter, Weber School District Superintendent Jeff Stephens, a multitude of kids from Burch Creek Elementary and others gathered Thursday to formally open Burch Creek Park, the $7 million park that took shape adjacent to the school, located at 4300 Madison Ave. With pickleball courts, a water feature, two playgrounds and excercise equipment geared to adults, the new park is meant to have broad appeal.
TIM VANDENACK, Standard-Examiner
Dameon Camp, left, and Dave Flitton play pickleball on one of the new courts at Burch Creek Park in South Ogden on Thursday, April 15, 2021, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark its opening.
“We want something for everyone in the community,” Porter said. He called the new park “a place to gather, a place to create a sense of community.”
He didn’t have to wait long for the park to draw a crowd. After the officials, aided by a student, formally cut a ceremonial ribbon with an oversized pair of scissors, the assembled kids swarmed past the dignitaries to the playground equipment.
“I think it’s 1,000 out of 10,” said Evan Jensen, a Burch Creek Elementary fifth-grader, on hand to help inaugurate the equipment.
TIM VANDENACK, Standard-Examiner
Kids try out the playground equipment at Burch Creek Park in South Ogden on Thursday, April 15, 2021, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark its opening.
Other kids gave the park similarly high marks. “It’s really fun. It’s awesome here,” said Anthony Camp.
Jai Ball, also a fifth-grader, noted the anticipation he and others have felt while watching construction of the park edge forward next door to their school. Park development, handled by Hogan Construction, kicked off in late October 2019.
“We’ve been waiting for months to get in,” Jai said.
“It feels like years,” chimed in Nefftali Diaz.
Dave Flitton was trying one of the eight pickleball courts with Dameon Camp. “I live right over there,” Flitton said gesturing behind him, “and I’ve been waiting for this for a year.”
Around $823,000 for the park came from grant funds generated by the special county sales tax, called the RAMP tax, meant for arts, recreation and cultural initiatives. The state pitched in another $150,000 and the city bonded to raise much of the rest.
MarLon Hills Elementary once sat on part of the land where the new park sits, south of Burch Creek Elementary. But the school closed after the 2015-2016 school year and was demolished thereafter, opening up the space.
In a $762,500 deal, the city of South Ogden subsequently acquired the open land and at the same time land left vacant by demolition of the former Club Heights Elementary, precipitating the planning that led to the new park.
TIM VANDENACK, Standard-Examiner
Kids try out the playground equipment at Burch Creek Park in South Ogden on Thursday, April 15, 2021, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark its opening.
Given the land’s longstanding connection to the Weber School District, Stephens took part in Thursday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. “This whole area for more than 70 years has been focused around children,” Stephens said.
Porter expects the park will be a big draw. It features a hill popular for sledding and a second playground should open next week, after the base beneath it is finished.
It’s already getting rave reviews. “I love it. It was a really good idea to do it. I like the swings,” said Sophie White, a Burch Creek Elementary student.
Meanwhile, Club Heights Park is in the midst of an upgrade. It’s located at 4100 Palmer Drive, also in South Ogden, and a new section is taking shape where Club Heights Elementary once sat.
Plans, focused on the upper section of the park, call for the addition of playgrounds, a water feature, a climbing boulder and more. The improvements should be done by the fall.
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