Raging Waters' colorful slides are gone, but will be replaced by a 30-foot colorful tree

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Raging Waters' slides will be replaced by a 30-foot colorful tree art piece.
Artist Matthew Mazzotta designed the tree, featuring panels reflecting sunlight and surroundings.
The installation is part of Glendale Park's second phase, set for spring 2029 completion.

SALT LAKE CITY — It's been years since Raging Waters' colorful waterslides poked through the Glendale neighborhood, but a 30-foot tree reflective of its natural colors will soon rise where they once stood.

Salt Lake City Arts Council officials on Wednesday unveiled the design for a new "iconic" art piece planned for Glendale Regional Park after commissioning renowned artist Matthew Mazzotta to create it.

Mazzotta's piece looks like a tree, but it will feature a series of panels within the canopy that capture and refract sunlight and the park's natural surroundings, creating an "ever-changing display of color as the day and seasons pass," council officials said.

"The Salt Lake Art Design Board unanimously recommended this artwork for its visual elegance, iconic presence and community-informed approach," officials added in a statement.

Work to engineer and fabricate the massive piece has yet to begin, but it's expected to be installed by the time the second phase of the park is completed, on pace for spring 2029.

Mazzotta, who has designed public art projects across the country, has also earned fellowships from TED, the Guggenheim, Harvard and the Smithsonian, along with a grant from the Fulbright Program.

Salt Lake City selected him to design the Glendale Regional Park piece last year, a year after Mayor Erin Mendenhall and the arts council announced the city was looking to add an "iconic" public art installation at the site of the former water park.

Mazzotta hosted multiple "outdoor living room" meetings with west side residents last year, gathering feedback that went into the design unveiled on Wednesday.

The final design drew inspiration from the west side's "cultural richness" and aims to serve as a landmark visible throughout the park, officials wrote. It's also meant to be a future gathering place for the park.

The park officially opened in December 2025, becoming Salt Lake City's first new regional park in over 60 years. Its first phase centers on a brightly colored playground that pays homage to the water park that shuttered in 2018.

In addition to the art piece, the second phase calls for a winter ice skating/summer roller skating ribbon, splash pad, skatepark and sledding hill, plus space for community concerts and events, boardwalks and improved Jordan River access.

City leaders approved a $51 million tranche earlier this year from the $85 million general bond that residents approved in 2022 for park improvements to go toward the second phase construction. Approximately $27 million of the full bond was earmarked to build out the Glendale park.

The bond, along with Salt Lake City's Percent-for-Art program and other public programs, helped pay for Mazzotta's piece.

Construction for the park's next phase is expected to begin in the spring and take two years to complete.

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