OREM — An $2.8 million Orem park that in its heyday was regarded as the most beautiful park west of the Mississippi is again open for public use. It will be dedicated this fall.
Nielsen's Grove Park in southwest Orem at approximately 2000 S. Sandhill Road was the community's first park. Danish immigrant Jorgen Nielsen designed it in 1866 after the fashion his uncle used in creating parks and gardens for the King of Denmark.
The park was celebrated in the early 19th century as a lovely place to dance, picnic and swing to the music of a carousel. It was turned into a wheat farm to support the World War I effort around 1917 and turned to swampland after 1951. Weeds took over the lawns. Debris filled the once-pristine ponds.
In 1999, Orem appropriated $200,000 for design work and started dedicating volunteer hours from the city's annual community service days to clean up and spruce up the area.
Originally the 18-acre park boasted statues, a 12-seat carousel swing, picnic arbors, a working greenhouse, a garden, reflecting pools and an outdoor dance floor.
Some of those features will return to the new 22-acre park along with modern-day restrooms, a children's playground and a parking lot.
"We're trying to restore that historical element. I think it's a very unique and beautiful park. I don't think there's another park quite like it in Utah Valley," said Steve Weber, Orem's park manager.
The park was slated for a mid-June opening but will probably not be dedicated now until fall.
"We're trying to finish up some things," Weber said. "We've had some problems with the reflecting pool and the fountain — we want the bottom to be painted black instead of blue like that of a swimming pool — that we're trying to rectify and we're removing the gravel walkway paths with a paver surface. Everything else is pretty much done."
Work on the widening of Sandhill Road is under way so the west side of the park hillside area is expected to remain busy for the next couple of months with construction equipment and workers.
There are also some decisions that need to made about the northwest corner area containing an old yellow brick building that archeologists have been researching.
The Orem Historical Commission is working to open a museum that is actually a replica of the original Nielsen three-bedroom home.
In each room there will be memorabilia from the park's glory days including treasures from the Nielsen family.
A par terre garden filled with colorful tulips is part of the tableau.
"They were beautiful. The tulips were all in bloom this spring," said Jenni Prince-Mahoney, chairman of the commission.
A carousel swing similar to the wooden 12-seater once pulled by mules is being replaced by a steel swing that won't be pulled by livestock.
Commission members hoped to get the four statues of ladies that stood in the original park back but three are in the Daughters of Utah Pioneer Park Museum in Provo and, according to long-standing DUP policy, cannot be moved, Prince-Mahoney said. The whereabouts of the fourth is unknown. A tapestry of the park is in the Pioneer Park Museum also.
Orem originally put restoration of the park on its priority list in the late '90s and estimated the cost of restoration could reach $2 million. The cost was included in a recreation bond Orem voters approved in 2002.
Also in 2002, at the request of Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, more than $7 million for projects throughout the state of Utah were approved as part of legislation passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee. That included $300,000 for Nielsen's Grove.
Although the dedication is not scheduled until fall, the park is open to the public for picnicking and the bowery is available for weddings and parties. To rent the pavilion at Nielsen's Grove, call the Orem Fitness Center at 229-7154.
E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com