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Show By GARY R. BLODGETT NORTH SALT LAKE There had to be some alterations altera-tions and cost-cutting, but the city park along U.S. Highway 89-91 is complete and city fathers are pleased with the results. re-sults. "WE HAD to make some adjustments along the way. and a lot of the labor was donated, don-ated, but I think we have a park to be proud of." said North Salt Lake Mayor Robert Palm-quist. Palm-quist. "It was only a short time ago that the strip along the west side of the highway from 350 North to 1000 North was nothing no-thing but dirt, rocks and debris. de-bris. Now the entire area is landscaped with trees, shrubs and grass and has a nice jogging jog-ging path." HE SAID it cost the city about ab-out S96.000 to complete, more " than half again as much as was estimated. "We anticipated the cost at between $50,000 and $60,000 but inflationary costs pushed it up considerably," said Mayor Palmquist. "So we had to cut back on some of the things we wanted to do and used volunteer volun-teer help to cut costs." HE EXPLAINED that the asphalt jogging track was not as wide as was wanted and redwood red-wood siding along the edge of the parkway was reduced to cut down expenses. "Although the parkway cost more than anticipated, it could have cost the city a lot more than it did." said Mayor Palmquist. Palm-quist. "The park is actually state property and is letting us develop and use it as long as it remains a park." HE ADDED that the state also helped in the planning of the park which is only 66 feet wide but about one-half mile long. By providing the architectural design, it saved the city some money. Most of North Salt Lake's cost came in landscaping the park, which was done by Greek Gardens cf North Logan, the mayor explained. HE SAID the city council decided de-cided a couple of years ago that the entrances into North Salt Lake should be improved and unanimously decided to take advantage of the state's offer to use the strip as a city park which also serves as a buffer zone between the highway and the residences on the west. "Residents of the area and local merchants are especially pleased with the park because the park was previously invested in-vested with mice and grasshoppers." gras-shoppers." he said. ' Every summer and autumn we received re-ceived complaints but now we receive compliments." TO HELP keep the parkway green, an automatic sprinkler system has been installed. "It has been timed to turn on late at night so as not to get the joggers and those out strolling wet." the mayor explained. Also, the city plans further development of the park as funds become available. He said the city would like to add lighting to the park for use during dur-ing the evening. A PART-TIME caretaker for the park also is being considered consi-dered for this summer, the mayor said. |