REVIEW 1998: Endangered Tauferer Park sparks debate and devotion | City Weekly REWIND

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Title: Park of the Saints in Tauferer Land
Author: David Madison
Date: 1 January 1998

The Virgin of Guadalupe has revealed herself at least twice, say believers who are working to preserve a religious shrine in Taufer Park. At the corner of 700 South and 300 East, devout visitors claim to have seen an image of the Virgin in the sawn-off branch of an elm tree. And in 1531, Latin American Catholics believe she appeared in the mountains outside Mexico City.

In the mountains outside Salt Lake City, another rescuer appeared in the spring of 1977. A 24-year-old woman named Karen Roberson had just finished a morning hike in Mill Creek Canyon when she was attacked by a man with a gun. The attacker told Roberson he planned to rape her.

Then Justin Taufer happened to arrive at the scene. He was on his way to his family’s cabin and stopped to offer help when he saw Roberson struggling with a man next to their pickup truck. Taufer, 67, got out of his car and tried to intervene, but the attacker opened fire, firing at least 14 shots.

Police later arrested a 28-year-old Salt Lake City man who reportedly cut his finger as bullet after bullet was fired. A trail of blood led about 70 feet down the canyon road to where the attacker jumped into a vehicle and fled, according to police.

The bloodshed of that day can now be traced back to the corner of 700 South and 300 East. Taufer died at the scene high in Mill Creek Canyon, but managed to save a woman from being raped and possibly murdered. Two years later, Taufer Park was named in his honor.

It’s ironic that a place named after such a hero needs a savior of its own. The Central City neighborhood has seen its share of crime, and just down the street from the park, a cluster of boarded-up buildings stares blankly at 700 South.

In 1993 The Salt Lake Tribune cited residents of the neighboring Phillips Plaza Apartments who didn’t even dare go to Taufer Park. Members of the surrounding communities have worked hard to make residents feel safe, and Margery Van Dusen, who has lived just a block from the park for nine years, said the area has improved.

“The police used to come here and collect needles when I came by to feed the birds,” Van Dusen recalls. On the morning before Christmas, the elderly woman was sweeping away a layer of fresh snow around a bench while sparrows gathered in a nearby bush. “See, they’re waiting for me,” she smiled. With the walkway clear, Van Dusen planned to scatter seeds, watch the birds and enjoy the park’s tranquility.

About 50 meters away, an abandoned Magnavox color television sat oddly next to the elm tree with the image of the Virgin. Believers have surrounded the tree with candles and pinned prayers and pictures of their loved ones to the bark. Where did the television come from? Who knows, but it’s no mystery why the steps leading up to the image of the Virgin are still covered with a generous layer of road salt.

Until a few days before Christmas, Salt Lake City had planned to demolish the steps and platform leading to the Virgin Mary statue. When a public outcry caught the attention of local media, the city backed down and promised to help keep the steps and platform free of ice.

The stairs and platform were built by the city’s parks department earlier this year, replacing the rickety ladders used by some of the shrine’s first visitors. Later, as the shrine’s popularity grew and Taufer Park residents noticed a decrease in crime in the neighborhood, the city changed its mind and declared it was time to demolish the stairs and platform.

“It was an administrative decision behind the scenes,” said John Renteria. The BYU law graduate participated in the recent negotiations that led the city to back off its demolition plans. Now a group of volunteers hopes to preserve the sanctuary as a place where people can come to brighten their days and the general mood of the neighborhood. As Renteria put it: “[The image of the Virgin’s] The greatest value to the community should be the side effect of people just wanting a little peace and quiet.”