Pleasant Grove's October Happens in Downtown Park. The City Just Asked Residents What the Park Should Become.

"You have one of the busiest downtown parks I've ever seen." Ben Levenger said that to the Pleasant Grove City Council on September 1. He is president of Downtown Redevelopment Services, the consulting firm that led the city's new Downtown Master Plan. He added that it was "a miracle" nobody had fallen off the wagon wheel on the jungle gym yet, "however, the kids were having fun."

That same night, the council voted 4-0 to adopt the plan. The park at 200 S Main is now the center of a long-range plan for downtown. It also hosts both of the city's big October events. The one question residents couldn't agree on during the planning process is about the park itself, and the plan leaves it open.

Two Dates on the Park's Calendar This Month

Pleasant Grove's recreation department has put its two October events on the same lawn.

The city's listing invites festivalgoers to come "dressed in your fiercest Viking garb… or not." Boo Bash is the event formerly known as Haunt on Main. Its listing says businesses that want to hand out candy can email Andi Veenker in the recreation department at [email protected]. The city's special events page is the place to confirm times before you head over. The listings show no posting date, and outdoor schedules sometimes change.

Both events rely on the same setup: grass, trees, and room for vendors and food trucks. The planning process asked residents whether that setup is enough.

What the Plan Heard About This Park

The Downtown Master Plan was a partnership between Pleasant Grove City, the Mountainland Association of Governments, and Downtown Redevelopment Services. It builds on the 2008 Downtown 2020 Action Plan and the 2023 General Plan. Work began in January 2026. It included stakeholder meetings, a visioning survey, design charrettes, and outreach booths at Strawberry Days.

At the September 1 meeting, Levenger called the downtown gathering-space question "probably the most evenly split recommendation out of everybody." Here is what he reported:

1. Residents love the park, and many also asked for "a better band shell that they can have concerts at."
2. Some wanted a hard surface where the city "could program a farmers market to be in the on a concrete pad."
3. On adding a plaza or defined gathering space downtown, 60% of respondents said yes and 40% said no.
4. On turning the park itself into a central civic space, the split was 60/40 again. Levenger told the council "there might be a little more outreach that needs to happen on this... before you make any final decisions."

A council member pointed out during the discussion that concerts already happen in the park. The request, he said, was for "a paved space to do that." Levenger agreed.

The Trade Is Shade

Levenger described the downside plainly:

"It's a trade-off because trees are great and if you do a paved area, you kind of lose the trees and then you get no shade."

He suggested the city might find "other ways than just concrete to make it work."

The plan's own map of existing conditions shows what's at stake. It says the lack of tree canopy and the amount of hard surface across downtown create an opportunity to build better destinations "other than the key parks." So the park is where much of downtown's shade already is. A paved band shell area there would swap that shade for a better concert and market space. That trade explains the 60/40 split better than any objection to concerts or markets would.

The plan also looks past the park. It proposes linking Downtown Park, Shannon Park, Cook Family Park, and the Rail Trail into "a more connected network of public spaces." The concert pad doesn't have to go in Downtown Park. Levenger said the team tried to fit "a plaza or just kind of a nice defined space somewhere in the downtown."

The Top Complaint Was About Food

Asked what was missing near the park, residents didn't say benches or bathrooms. According to Levenger, survey respondents "were kind of upset they had to go somewhere else to get kid-friendly food and then come back." He called that "the number one complaint that the park had."

That complaint ties October's events to the plan. Viking Day brings food trucks to the park for a day. Boo Bash brings local businesses to the park for an evening. For those hours, the park has the nearby food and businesses that residents said it lacks the rest of the year.

The plan's long-term answer is mixed-use development along Main Street. Residents told the consultants they're fine with offices and apartments upstairs and "really want retail on the first floor." Levenger said niche retail is "always the best" fit. Construction is expensive right now, so the plan also suggests short-term uses for empty lots, like container gardens or other setups that hold a site "until the market corrects itself."

How tall is too tall

Residents defined downtown's character more by building height than by the historic buildings alone, which surprised the consultants. More than 75% of respondents were comfortable with the new mixed-use apartment and retail building already downtown. Respondents weren't "really worried about the height up to about four stories." They were concerned about "a whole block be wiped away and rebuilt."

Getting to the Park on a Bike

Many survey answers were about getting to the park, not the park itself. "I don't know how many times we read, I wish my kids could," Levenger said, "ride their bike to the park from my house, ride their bike to downtown like I used to."

The plan's response is small and specific. Levenger said its recommendations name particular blocks where a sidewalk, sign, or crosswalk is missing between downtown and nearby neighborhoods. Residents supported bike improvements around Main Street, "just not on Main Street." In his words, "Crossing it is fine. Going around it is fine. Going to the park is great."

Main Street's angled parking is staying. Residents were offered extra-wide sidewalks in exchange for switching to parallel parking, and they turned it down. Levenger said that's "why the plan didn't really keep the extra wide sidewalks."

The Rail Trail is the biggest connection project, and the slowest. Levenger called it "probably a 10-year project." It would move in phases from a buffered, unpaved walkway to a concrete path and eventually to a separated route with a bike lane and walking area.

What Changes, and When

Nothing in the plan gets built automatically. The staff report says it guides work over several years. It also says the plan "does not commit the City to construct every improvement identified." Specific projects, code changes, and funding would each go back to the council separately. City staff said they want to bring a list of recommendations with funding attached to next year's annual planning and budget meeting, "so that we not only have a plan, but a way to fund the plan."

Levenger called gateway signs at the north and south approaches the "lowest barrier of entry." He said visitors who "come here for strawberry days" often don't realize Pleasant Grove has a downtown, because "they just keep driving by it." Some familiar things are staying too. The consultants named the Rexall Drug sign as one of their favorite parts of Main Street, and someone in the audience called out, "It's still there."

You can read the full plan in the September 1 council packet or watch the council discussion on the city's video. The park question will come up again, and the next round of outreach Levenger recommended is where it gets decided. Until then, Downtown Park hosts the Viking 5K at 8 AM on October 10, the festival from 10 to 5, and Boo Bash's silent hour at 5 PM on October 29.

If you own near downtown and want to know how a phased plan like this could affect your street, Joshua Sterling is glad to walk through it with you. He follows Pleasant Grove's planning decisions closely and can explain what's settled and what's still being decided. Let's Connect.