KEARNS, Utah — Summer break is right around the corner for Utah families.
That means families will try to get their kids back into the swing of things with activities they did before the pandemic shut things down.
For parents like Sara Moyle of Midvale, having a place to take her kids to play is a huge relief, and the recent upgrades at Oquirrh Regional Park came just in time.
“Being able to just find creative ways, parks have been big with stuff like that. Being able to get outside and find opportunities that maybe we wouldn’t take quite as much beforehand,” said Moyle.
This pandemic is all but child’s play; it disrupted and complicated so many lives.
“It was pretty tricky, having a new baby and a toddler makes things a little crazy even when it’s not a pandemic,” said Moyle.
Parks, in general, provided a space for everyone to enjoy the outdoors and in many ways become a kid again.
Martin Jensen, director of the Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation, said his team made a point to polish up its sites when nearly everything closed down last year during the pandemic.
“And we just completed a $4.5 million park investment here,” said Jensen.
All of the changes at Oquirrh Regional Park in Kearns are a prime example.
We’ve built new playgrounds, restrooms, we’ve put in walking paths and trails, park pavilions. We had this planned ahead of the pandemic, but the timing was perfect,” said Jensen.
Looking ahead, Jensen explained that outdoor summer sports programs will resume. However, participants who can’t maintain 6 feet of social distance will have to wear a mask.
