Governing Structure

Sugar House Park is governed by the Sugar House Park Authority, a non-profit organization created in conjunction with Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County in 1957. The Park Authority has a nine-member Board of Trustees, seven of whom are citizen volunteers; the other two members are representatives of Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, respectively.

Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County jointly owned the old State Prison site in the 1950s, having acquired it from the State of Utah after the prison was moved to the Point of the Mountain. In 1957, the city and county deeded the property, in trust, to the Sugar House Park Authority until Dec. 31, 2055. So, the Park Authority is now about halfway through its 99-year obligation to own, maintain and operate Sugar House Park.

Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County jointly provide the essential funding for the park’s maintenance; since 1990, the Park Authority has contracted with Salt Lake County Parks to maintain Sugar House Park. So, the city and county are very important partners in the three-party agreement by which the Park Authority governs the park.

The Park Authority board meets 10 times a year and makes decisions at those public meetings to set park policy and handle special requests (see Meetings for more information).