Pleasant Grove schedules Cook Park grand opening, drone show; city readies parking, safety plans

Pleasant Grove city officials on Tuesday outlined plans for the June opening of Cook Park, including a morning ribbon-cutting for the new splash pad and an evening drone show that organizers said could draw thousands of visitors.

City staff said the program will begin around 10 a.m., with remarks and a ribbon-cutting at about 10:30 a.m., followed by demonstrations at the pump track and skate park and a halftime-style dunk performance by BYU’s dunk team at noon. The drone show is scheduled to begin at 10:00 p.m.; city staff said they expect large crowds for the night event and are preparing traffic and pedestrian controls accordingly.

Officials told the council they plan to staff the site with crossing guards on main pedestrian routes across 600 West and 800 North, deploy police officers to direct traffic for the drone show, and have an ambulance on-site as a precaution. Staff also described information booths, food trucks with RV hookups to avoid generator noise, a DJ with parkwide sound broadcast and designated “reserved” parking close to the program area for event hosts and speakers.

The city manager said parking will be similar to the city’s fireworks events: visitors will use available surface lots and street parking; staff will mark reserved spots for the morning ceremonies so dignitaries and speakers can access the site without a long walk. Staff acknowledged they cannot accommodate all vehicles and encouraged those on the council who planned to attend to use the reserved spots and consider arriving early for the evening show.

Staff discussed internal logistics maps and a drone setup area inside the park; they said maps were being finalized for internal circulation and would inform placement of info booths and staff staging. City staff also said some park areas would be cleared temporarily for demonstrations (for example, skate park shows) and that sound would be managed so demonstrations and the drone show could proceed.

Officials warned council members and staff that keeping reserved parking open all day until the evening show would be difficult, and suggested staying on-site between morning and evening events rather than leaving and returning. The city encouraged council members who plan to stay all day to wear staff shirts that will help visitors identify people who can answer questions.

Why it matters: The event will use newly completed park amenities and draw substantial public attendance and vehicle traffic. City operations and public safety planning — crossing guards, police direction, ambulance presence, food-vendor hookups, and staff information booths — are intended to reduce safety risks and traffic disruption during what staff expect to be a high-attendance, multi-segment civic event.

Officials present: Scott (City Manager), Mayor (unnamed), Megan (recreation staff), Dion (parks/events staff), Chief Brown (police chief) were the primary speakers on logistics and safety.

Timing and program details (as discussed by staff): program begins ~10:00 a.m.; ribbon-cut at ~10:30 a.m.; pump track demo ~11:00 a.m.; futsal demo ~11:30 a.m.; BYU dunk team ~12:00 p.m.; evening drone show ~10:00 p.m. Staff expects thousands of attendees and will post a viewing-area map for the public after final internal review.

Ending: Staff said the finalized internal logistics map will be circulated to participating departments and that some event details — including drone-viewing-area guidance for the public — will be released by communications staff in advance of Saturday’s events.