LOGAN — The site of a devastating canal breach in Logan that took the lives of a mother and her two children is now a park.
Evelia Jacqueline Leavey and her children, 13-year-old Victor Alanis and 12-year-old Abbey Alanis, died when the canal above their home broke July 11, 2009, sending a torrent of water and mud down the hillside. It took crews four days to recover their bodies. The home was destroyed.
It’s been nearly seven years, but the events of that July are still fresh in the minds of the people who survived it.
“When I got here, there was water everywhere,” said Chris Thomas, who lives across the street from where the house once stood. “Just the fact that you live across the street from something where three people get killed is kind of disconcerting.”
For years, the land was tied up in lawsuits. The City was finally able to buy the property.
"Because of the condition of the subsurface soils here, it wasn’t conducive for redevelopment," said Logan Parks and Recreation Director Russ Akina.
Instead, the city opted to build a park in memory of Leavey and her children.
"This was really the best use of the land," Akina said.
When the first blades of grass began to pop up this spring, neighbors were thrilled.
“I think it’s great,” Thomas said. “I mean, it took awhile, and for a long time I didn’t think anything was going to happen.”
Evidence of the landslide still exists. The land above reveals breakage, and the soil is still crumbled below.
“I remember walking out here to this road down the street and seeing a river of mud and water from curb to curb,” Akina said.
The city plans to pour concrete and plant trees in the coming months. The park is expected to open this summer.
The city also plans to build a memorial for Leavey and her children, a reminder that the area is much more than a park.
“I think it’s special, particularly for the neighbors that are still around that remember that," Akina said. "To see something like that sure leaves a deep impression.”
Email: manderson@deseretnews.com