This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Liberty Park has the Tracy Aviary. Sugar House Park hosts the Independence Day fireworks. And Jordan Park contains the world.
Tucked behind the baseball diamonds and skate park is the International Peace Gardens, a swath of land cut into 28 sections, each one representing a country and the immigrants who now call Utah home.
But the gardens don't attract the crowds they used to.
"It is a little forgotten and not enough appreciated," said Hilde Mueller, who is the caretaker of the German garden. "I want the whole city to know what a treasure we have."
Each garden, which is a collaborative effort between the community and city gardeners, aims to give parkgoers a taste of far-away cultures.
A miniature Eiffel Tower adorns the French area. A replica of the Matterhorn marks the Swiss garden. A bust of Mahatma Gandhi anchors the park dedicated to India.
And a statue of the Little Mermaid sits in the middle of a pool at the Danish park. Not surprisingly, Birgitte Peterson enjoys the little slice of her homeland.
She was born in Denmark and immigrated to Utah 37 years ago. Peterson now heads a group that looks after the Danish section of this unique public space, where relatively few ever visit.
"It is one of the best-kept secrets," she said. "The park is kind of tucked away."
The Salt Lake Council of Women, a community service organization, dreamed of creating such a park in 1939, but war got in the way of the peace gardens. The plans were scuttled until World War II ended. In 1947, the city offered land, and the gardens opened. Germany and Japan were some of the first countries recognized.
A plaque at the park's entrance now reads: "Free America bids the world to be done with the instruments of war and in the spirit of these gardens to cultivate the arts of peace."
One of the newer additions is the Vietnam garden, including two stone lions watching guard.
The Russian garden was created by a group of Americans who made a "peace and friendship tour" to the former Soviet Union in 1987. Vivian Windley, a Dane, joined that group and still takes care of the Russian section, which now consists of a circle of reddish green shrubs surrounding a statue of two children playing the popular string game Cat's Cradle.
She is preparing to hand over stewardship to a Russian organization in Utah. But some areas have not had such support. The Canadian section has largely been abandoned by the community, so have the gardens representing Africa, Switzerland and France. The city keeps the flowers healthy, but the structures are not in tip-top shape.
Community support wanes with the years but always picks up near the end of summer. The Council of Women organize an annual Peace Garden celebration on the third Saturday of August, which this year falls on Aug. 19, where community groups get 20 minutes to wow the crowd with a cultural dance or presentation.
Last year, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., officiated. This year, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon will do the honors.
Irene Wiesenberg, past president of the Salt Lake City Council of Women, is the Peace Gardens chairwoman and main organizer of the annual celebration. The English woman has worked with the park and the celebration for 15 years and every year she hopes that a few more members of the community will attend.
"When people come, and especially when they come to the festival, they say 'I didn't know this existed,' " Wiesenberg lamented. "It is a shame more people don't know about it."