Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall used this year's National Public Lands Day celebration to publicly thank the donor behind an $11.5 million grant that will reshape one of the city's busiest urban trails and transform a long-vacant industrial block into new park space. The funding, announced earlier this summer, is aimed at fixing long stretches of shadeless gravel along the 9 Line Trail while building out public open space on the nearby Fleet Block.
Mendenhall thanked the Bezos Earth Fund during the September 26 event, according to KSL.com. Per the outlet, the grant will bring more than 280 trees, water-wise plantings, and new places to sit and rest along the trail, which follows old railroad tracks running along 900 South and extends between the Jordan River Surplus Canal and 200 West. The station reports the corridor now sees more than 3,600 bicycle riders and pedestrians each month, adding up to roughly half a million users a year.
Breaking Down the $11.5 Million
City officials have detailed exactly how that money is split. The Salt Lake City Mayor's Office says $9.5 million is earmarked for improving 1.7 miles of the 9 Line Trail, while $2 million will go toward building public open space on the adjacent Fleet Block. The trail upgrade will convert 3.2 acres of underutilized gravel into a shaded urban forest, according to KSL News, which reports the project calls for planting 285 trees and 350 water-wise shrubs alongside drip irrigation, new soil, benches, tables, and wayfinding signage.
The 9 Line concept dates back to Salt Lake City's 1992 Open Space Master Plan, and its initial 1.5-mile paved section did not open until 2011, according to the Salt Lake City Department of Transportation. Recent street reconstruction has since extended the trail east to 1100 East in the 9th & 9th neighborhood, a factor KSL News ties to the corridor's growing traffic and the demand for shade along its previously bare gravel stretches.
A Park Rising From a Painful Site
Two acres away, the Fleet Block carries a history the city has not glossed over. It served as a city fleet maintenance facility until it went vacant in 2009, and in May 2020 it became a community memorial site after local artists painted murals on its outer walls honoring victims of police violence, according to the Salt Lake City government. The buildings and murals were removed in spring 2025, though city staff conducted grief counseling and commissioned photography to document the murals before clearing the land.
In August, the city unveiled its final concept design for a 2.4-acre open space on the block, featuring an amphitheater lawn, community gardens, a shaded pavilion, and 150 trees, as reported by Axios. That park will sit alongside the block's remaining acreage, which the city selected Mercy Housing, Habitat for Humanity Greater Salt Lake Area, and Brinshore Development to redevelop into high-density housing and ground-floor retail back in August 2025, per Habitat for Humanity Greater Salt Lake Area. Hoodline previously reported on Brinshore's separate role in the 170-unit Ballpark Block project.
Part of a National Push, and a Local Holiday
The grant fits into a larger philanthropic effort. The Bezos Earth Fund's Greening America's Cities initiative launched in 2023 with a $400 million overall goal and had committed $150 million across 11 U.S. cities, including Salt Lake City, by this July, according to the fund's own materials cited by the Mayor's Office. Salt Lake City was one of eight cities selected in the 2026 grant cohort.
Mendenhall's remarks came at an event near the 9 Line Trail. The city's National Public Lands Day celebration, held Saturday, included a 9 Line Trail story walk, a citywide public lands scavenger hunt, volunteer sign-ups, live music, and food trucks, according to the city's event announcement. National Public Lands Day is observed annually on the fourth Saturday of September and is billed as the nation's largest single-day volunteer effort for public lands, per KSL.com.
