Liberty Park (Salt Lake City)

Public facilities include playgrounds, restrooms, bowery, concession stand, children's play areas, picnic areas, large grassy areas, horseshoe pits, a swimming pool, basketball courts, volleyball courts, tennis courts, bocce ball courts, a 1.5-mile woodchip jogging path, a 1.42-mile paved jogging path, seasonal amusement rides and a greenhouse. Other seasonal activities and public facilities include paddle boats, recreational games, and festivals. It is a popular jogging, rollerblading and cycling location.[6][7]

Liberty Park is a popular place to sit and watch Salt Lake City's Pioneer Day fireworks display, which go off in the park across the street, on the 24th of July.

Large crowds gather in the park on Sundays during the spring, summer, and early fall for drum circles that last all day. An assortment of people, pets (primarily dogs), musical instruments and dance styles merge every Sunday at the park.

A sculpture/fountain models the Jordan River and its canyon tributaries. In the summertime children can play in the water fountain.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, most facilities temporarily closed. This included playgrounds, volleyball courts, Chase Home, and Tracy Aviary. However, it was extremely popular for people walking, biking, and spending time outdoors.

Tracy Aviary

Tracy Aviary is located on 8 acres (3.2 ha) of land in Liberty Park. A Salt Lake City banker Russell Lord Tracy founded Tracy Aviary when he donated his private bird collection to Salt Lake City and its children. Open to the public since 1938, Tracy Aviary maintains a collection of approximately 400 birds representing about 135 species. Several of those bird species participate in their Species Survival Plan. The SSP is a breeding program that promotes genetic diversity in the captive animal populations. The Tracy Aviary is also an AZA accredited facility, and it is one of two free standing aviaries in the nation.[11]

In 1860 the land became the property of Brigham Young, who planted varieties of mulberry, cottonwood and other trees. In pioneer days it was known as Mill Farm, Forest Park and Locust Patch. In 1881, Salt Lake City purchased the land from the Young estate. Also in 1881 the city held a public competition for the park's landscape design. Joseph Don Carlos Young, Utah's first academically trained architect and a son of Brigham Young, won the competition which included a $100 premium.[12] On June 17, 1882 the 80 acres rectangular parcel was introduced as a recreational area and officially named Liberty Park.[13]

A city zoo once operated within the park, but was relocated and became the Hogle Zoo in 1931. In 1938 the Tracy Aviary opened.

Many of the park's trees were toppled by the 2020 Utah windstorm.[14]

In June 2010, an estimated 20,000 gallons of oil spilled into the Red Butte Creek from a Chevron Corporation pipeline. The spill prompted the closure of Liberty Park as oil spread to the nearby Jordan River.[15] 150 to 200 birds, many of them Canada geese, came in contact with the oil and were taken to Hogle Zoo to be cleaned.[16] Officials have advised residents that humans and animals should avoid water access points along Liberty Park, the Jordan River and Red Butte Canyon.[17]

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  Chase Home Museum of Utah Folk Arts
• 
  Liberty Lake
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  900 South Entrance
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  Free Wi-Fi in the park
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  Re-enactment of Mormon pioneers in the 1912 Pioneer Day Parade in Liberty Park
• 
  Isaac Chase Mill, August 1968

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Liberty Park.

• Liberty Park official website
• Tracy Aviary official website
• Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. UT-49, "Isaac Chase Mill, Sixth East Street, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, UT", 4 photos, 6 measured drawings, 7 data pages