What Can Basin Rec Still Build Next to Silver Creek Without a Bond?
November 12, 2026
November 12, 2026
What happens to roughly 100 acres of public recreation land at the corner of I-80 and U.S. 40 once the building planned for it loses its funding? For people who live in Silver Creek and Silver Creek Village, the question comes up every time they walk the path that loops past the parcel. The answer depends on what each planned amenity needed in order to exist.
The Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District took a $71 million general obligation bond to voters on Nov. 3. Preliminary results reported by the Park Record on Nov. 5 had 3,402 voters, or 53%, opposed and 3,044, or 47%, in favor. About 9,000 ballots were still uncounted at that point. Executive Director Robert Parrish told the paper he did not expect the outcome to change, and the Summit County Council's certification was set for Nov. 17.
The amenities that don't depend on a new building are the ones that still have a path forward on the Silver Creek parcel.
The district first proposed a $150 million bond. It cut that to $71 million after the Summit County Council and residents questioned the design scope. Even the smaller plan centered on a 68,000-square-foot building in Silver Creek Village. It would have held an aquatic center, climbing and bouldering, cardio and weight rooms, multipurpose space and a daycare. A second, 20,000-square-foot building in East Canyon would have added indoor courts and classrooms.
Here is how each Silver Creek piece was meant to be paid for, which shows what the vote actually stopped:
| Amenity | What it depended on | Where it stands after the vote |
|---|---|---|
| Aquatic center, cardio and weights, daycare | The bond-funded building | No funding source |
| Climbing gym | A building shell from Basin Rec, run by a private operator | No shell to lease |
| Mini-golf course and sculpture garden | Land and restroom access from Basin Rec, built by a nonprofit | Parrish says it "is still going to move forward" |
| Fields, parkland, other outdoor amenities | The district's capital improvement fund | Now the district's main focus |
The climbing gym and the mini-golf course were both set up as public-private partnerships, with outside groups covering the costs. The climbing gym still relied on a building that only the bond would have paid for. The mini-golf course did not.
In September the district moved its climbing plans from the county-owned Cline Dahle property in Jeremy Ranch to Silver Creek Village. KPCW reported that Parrish said Basin Rec would build the shell and potentially lease it to another operator. An operator could cover the walls, the holds and the staff. Basin Rec still had to provide the building, and that building was part of the bond.
The mini-golf proposal asked for something different.
Park City resident Jennifer Riff brought the idea to the Basin Recreation board in July. The Park Record described it as a 14-hole mini-golf course inside a sculpture garden built around themes that matter to Park City, such as mining history and the Olympics. The sculptures would be interactive and educational. Under the proposal, her nonprofit would pay the construction costs and run the course. In return, Basin Rec would provide land and bathroom access and receive a share of the proceeds.
The rest of the proposal shows how small the project is:
The Silver Creek parcel became the likely site because Parrish told the board that the Cline Dahle property in Jeremy Ranch was too small. In the district's 2024 phased concept for the parcel, a restroom pavilion came early. It was grouped with athletic fields and a playground, while the indoor center came in a later phase. That concept is two years old and was not a final plan. Still, it shows that restroom access on this land was never tied to the fieldhouse.
Residents spoke up for the project at the Sept. 23 public hearing on the bond. KPCW quoted Riff describing whom it was for:
"I have teenagers; I'd love for them to be able to go and have that as an experience with their friends. Older relatives come and visit us. It's nice to have a non-aggressively athletic thing for them to do with family members."
The board took no action in July. It agreed to study the idea at the committee level and bring back a fuller proposal for a vote. Based on the July proposal, these steps come next:
Parrish also suggested in July that the sculpture garden could reach beyond the course, with installations along trails across the property. He called it "more of a site concept rather than just a small portion of it."
Before the vote, the district had about $6.3 million in its capital improvement fund. It planned to spend that money on outdoor amenities and early costs such as permits and architectural design so it could put off drawing on the bond. With the bond trailing, Parrish told the Park Record the money will instead pay for outdoor amenities at Silver Creek and Jeremy Ranch. "We have the opportunity to create some additional parklands, some additional outdoor fields and outdoor amenities," he said.
In its Sept. 23 bond presentation, the district had already listed outdoor projects it could pursue without bond money: pavilions, turf fields, nature-based playgrounds, dedicated pickleball courts and open turf areas. Parrish put pickleball "a couple of years away." New courts at Silver Creek or Jeremy Ranch would free the Fieldhouse courts for other uses.
The Fieldhouse in Kimball Junction is why all of this matters. At 87,000 square feet, it is the district's one indoor building. It has weight and cardio areas, an indoor track, a 14,000-square-foot gym, an outdoor lap pool and hot tub, an indoor turf field and a splash pad. "The Fieldhouse is as big as it's going to get," Parrish told the Park Record. "The footprint is the footprint." He added that longer hours would raise operating costs. Basin Rec can't add indoor space without a new building, so new capacity will come from outdoor projects like fields, courts and the mini-golf course, and most of that is planned for Silver Creek.
Parrish also mentioned two other possible funding routes, public-private partnerships and neighborhood crowdfunding. He said some residents had offered to chip in with their neighbors. He did not rule out another bond in a future election.
The Silver Creek property already has a finished trail. When the district showed its designs in 2024, it said the existing pathway would stay and connect to the Silver Creek and Highland Estates neighborhoods. That route is the Ancient Forest Loop. It circles Silver Creek Village with 0.8 miles of paved path and 1.5 miles of compacted gravel.
In winter, Basin Rec grooms the loop for multiple uses, including Nordic skiing, fat-tire biking and walking. The district's winter trails page lists it as a 4.3-kilometer groomed multi-use trail. Grooming has no set schedule, so check Basin Rec's live winter trails map for current conditions before heading out.
The loop also passes the land where the next round of building will likely happen. If the board approves the mini-golf lease and the capital fund pays for fields, Silver Creek could see new amenities within a few years, even without the fieldhouse.
When you want to know how the plans for the Silver Creek parcel could shape daily life in the homes around it, INHABIT Park City can walk the Ancient Forest Loop with you and point out where things stand. Schedule a Neighborhood Tour.
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