SALT LAKE CITY — A familiar face may return to Smith's Ballpark next spring, but the future of the stadium beyond that remains about as hazy as the smoke that lingered over the field Wednesday afternoon.

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall confirmed that Salt Lake City, which owns the ballpark, is in active negotiations with the University of Utah on a plan that would let the team play its 2025 season at Smith's Ballpark before the team's new stadium near Sunnyside Park opens in 2026.

"We hope to have more details when we finalize that contract … and hopefully that's imminent," she said, during a roundtable discussion about the future of the stadium with Ballpark community leaders and reporters on Wednesday.

The Utes have played their games at Smith's Ballpark for years, as part of an agreement with the Salt Lake Bees. However, the university team was forced to look for a new option after the Larry H. Miller Company — the owner of the Triple-A Bees — announced in January 2023 that the team would not renew its lease with Salt Lake City and instead relocate to a new stadium it is now building in South Jordan's Daybreak community after the 2024 season.

The Bees' final game at Smith Ballpark will be Sept. 22. Yet, since Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark won't be ready until 2026, the Utes baseball team is scrambling for a temporary home ahead of a permanent one. It seemed likely that the team could play at Smith's Ballpark for one more season because the stadium is expected to remain vacant until possible construction of a new use for the stadium, which is expected to begin in 2026 at the earliest.

University of Utah athletic director Mark Harlan said last month that the university was close to an agreement over a 2025 home but declined to say who the university was negotiating with. He said at that time he believed a deal would be reached soon.

The Utes play considerably fewer home games than the Bees, so the agreement wouldn't keep the site active as frequently as minor league baseball. The team played 27 games at Smith's Ballpark this past season from March 12 to May 14, as compared to over 70 Bees games in a season that runs from late March to mid-to-late September.

Mendenhall said the contract would include a nonexclusive use component, which differs from the contract with the Bees. It would allow the city to host concerts or other events while the Utes are in season, something Minor League Baseball prohibits.

"We want the city to be able to activate the ballpark when it is not in use with the baseball team," she said. "That's a key part of our negotiations with them."

Planning for the future

The future beyond that is to be determined, but there have been a few new updates since August.

Marc Asnis, a project manager for the firm Perkins&Will, which the city hired as a consultant for the project, explained that the company plans to have an urban design framework that outlines how the site will be used beyond 2025.

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Ballpark concerns mount as Bees final season at Smith's Ballpark winds down

A draft plan for the Smith's Ballpark future could be available in the next few months, but Ballpark residents are concerned about a gap between the last game and construction.

These will start with three different "test fits" that look at ways that preserve the 30-year-old stadium, preserve some of it or demolish it entirely. Each would include recommended ideas that include commercial or residential development, as well as open, cultural, civic or institutional space with a focus on ways to bring people to the neighborhood throughout the year, as a part of this work.

The plans will include the parking lot located north of the stadium.

The team, he added, is using information collected during Salt Lake City's Ballpark Next competition and the city's Ballpark Station Area Plan as a part of the planning process. Some initial renderings are expected to be released to Ballpark residents by as early as November before they are presented to the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City in December.

"Nothing has been decided yet. Everything is still on the table," Asnis said.

The final design is on track to be completed by March 2025, before the city launches a process to hire developers to carry out the vision in the plan. RDA officials previously said construction likely wouldn't begin until 2026.

An exact cost is yet to be determined, but it does have some seed funding. The Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation announced in February that it will send $22 million toward future project development. The company has spent the past six months working with "trusted financial advisers" to raise the remaining $78 million of a $100 million pledge, according to Mendenhall.

A near-term solution

Aside from potential Utah baseball games, what happens between Sept. 22 and 2026 also remains fuzzy. Mendenhall said the city is still working on an interim plan to keep the space open in some form outside of baseball games. That's on top of other efforts to improve the neighborhood, like expanding the city's Love Your Block program to the neighborhood.

"We are deeply invested in the Ballpark neighborhood and, honestly, we're nowhere close to letting off the gas," she said.

The Ballpark Action Team, a community nonprofit, is hosting a community meeting over this at the Urban Indian Center (120 W. 1300 South) at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Erika Carlsen, co-chair of the organization, said residents have come up with a few ideas already. The stadium could host Little League games or it could be opened up as a temporary public park. Some have seen it as a possible outdoor market space.

She said residents want to know what's next for the stadium, adding that she is "encouraged" by where things are currently at after Wednesday's roundtable. Amy Hawkins, chairwoman of the Ballpark Community Council, also attended the event, leaving cautiously optimistic about it.

Hawkins said she appreciates the nonexclusive element of the proposed Utah baseball deal because it could allow for more uses that prevent the space from going dormant for over a year. Both say they want to make sure the city keeps its promise to keep the area active while the stadium's long-term future is determined.

They don't want to see the space become a vacant pit.

"As people who live here, it's our job to keep the pressure on the city and other stakeholders to keep moving this project forward," Carlsen said. "We understand it's going to take some time to happen ... but this is a public asset. This belongs to all of us."

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