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Cottonwood Heights Journal

A New Landscape for Stratton Park

Nov 05, 2015 02:49PM ● By Bryan Scott

By Carol Hendrycks

A makeover for the 100-by-400 foot area located on the west side of I-215, just off of 4500 South and Stratton Drive in Holladay, has been long overdue. The property, which houses a cell tower and sheds, is less than attractive. Most of the land is covered in weeds, rocks and turf, which does not allow much vegetation or provide an inviting environment for any use.

Holladay Councilman Steve Gunn, District 4, who lives in the nearby neighborhood, is spearheading the Stratton Park beautification project at the approval from Holladay City Council and direction from the city manager, Randy Fitts. 

“The idea is to eliminate unattractive rugged turf area, hide the sheds as much as possible and reface the land with a variety of trees and rearranged the rocks and boulders pulled from the site in a more appealing fashion,” Gunn said.

In 2006, the property was donated to the City of Holladay and owned by the Department of Transportation. The state had condemned this land and parceled off two-thirds of the property, creating a triangular shape which Holladay is taking advantage of 60 percent of the area. Gunn explained that AT&T and originally Crown Castle, telecommunication companies who own the cell tower, sheds and the land they sit on, agreed to lease the property back to Holladay. 

After 2011, back lease funds collected from the state and support from these two companies help to put this facelift in motion, contributed towards a driveway and helped to secure the purchase of 100 trees, including pines and Rocky Mountain juniper. 

Other partners who supported the project are Rocky Mountain Power, which provided the wood chips needed for coverage around the trees, local volunteers, Bart Dean, a local landscape architect and team who brought in equipment to dig, plant the trees and move rocks, and others who donated piping and sprinklers, and support staff from the City of Holladay. Everyone came together to redevelop the park, which will be mostly completed this year with the exception of some additional trees to be planted sometime next year.