The chairman of the Republican National Committee, one of the central figures in the GOP, is scheduled to visit the Park City area on Tuesday as part of a trip to Utah to review Salt Lake City’s bid to host the party’s national convention in 2012.
Michael Steele will lead the three-day visit to the state, and the Salt Lake City committee bidding for the convention expects Steele will accompany the rest of the contingent to the Park City area.
An itinerary for Tuesday includes a tour of the Utah Olympic Park and a briefing on what role Park City could play if the convention is held in Salt Lake City. None of the events on Tuesday are open to the public.
Mayor Dana Williams is expected to address the Republicans while they are at the Olympic Park. Olympic champion bobsledder Steve Holcomb, who lives in Park City, is also scheduled to appear while the group is at the Olympic Park.
“I think we have a track record of working with people regardless of partisanship and party lines,” said Williams, a left-leaning politician whose mayoral position is nonpartisan.
Williams said he intends to talk about Park City’s tradition as a resort community that regularly hosts conventions. He said he will mention the uniqueness of the city when put against the other places in Utah where the Republicans would spend time during the convention.
The convention is scheduled the week of Aug. 27. Salt Lake City is competing with Phoenix and Tampa, Fla. Salt Lake City bidders say 35,000 people are expected to attend the 2012 convention.
The Salt Lake City committee leading the bid envisions Park City playing a significant role should the Republicans hold the convention in Utah. Approximately two dozen lodges in the Park City area have pledged blocs of rooms to the bid, with the committee saying approximately 3,900 local rooms could be set aside for the Republicans.
If the convention is held in Utah, Park City would likely see a significant late-summer tourism boost. Lodges, restaurants, nightclubs and shuttle services would probably enjoy a bump in business.
Scott Beck, the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau and a leader in Salt Lake’s bid, said he wants to show the Republicans Park City’s “pretty unique mountain experience” during next week’s visit.
He said the city could host many sponsor events and state-level Republican Party functions during the convention. The Republican National Committee would assign certain state delegations to the individual hotels. The assignments would be made much closer to the event itself.
Bill Malone, the president and CEO of the Park City Chamber/Bureau, plans to accompany the group while they are in the Park City area, saying he wants to tout the city’s summertime setting, the bloc of local hotel rooms and the facilities that can host private functions.
“This is a pretty special place in the summer as well,” Malone said.