A Las Vegas hotspot wants to park itself in Park City during the Sundance Film Festival.
The location that the Tao nightclub has picked: a parking garage at the bottom of the Town Lift.
In what would be one of the more ambitious setups by an outsider during the festival, Tao intends to occupy an expansive section of the garage, which is situated underneath the Town Lift Plaza, people involved in the negotiations said.
Corporate interests and others wanting to generate buzz during the festival have for years rented places on or near Main Street and turned the spaces into temporary suites and party spots. But the idea to make the Town Lift Plaza garage seems more involved in that the organizers will need to remake a spot designed for parking into one that will draw a crowd of celebrities and other invited guests.
“You’ve got a lot of risk, but there’s a lot of reward,” said Jeffrey Best, a Los Angeles-based event organizer who is involved in the Town Lift Plaza planning.
The Sweeney family owns the space and in the past had operated it as a garage during Sundance as well as housing some of the operational space serving a festival-related setup on the Town Lift Plaza itself.
Mike Sweeney, who is representing his family in the negotiations, said 5,000 square feet on the bottom level of the garage will be turned into the Tao nightclub. The square footage will make it among the largest temporary festival setups in Park City.
Carpet, curtains and lighting will be put in and then torn out afterward. Sweeney said soundproof material will be used and a ventilation system will be put into operation.
The Tao nightclub will be operating in the garage from the first Friday of Sundance until the following Tuesday. The Friday-to-Tuesday schedule is similar to those of other temporary setups during the festival. The opening weekend of Sundance is especially busy, and the star power in Park City usually peaks at that time. Tao had operated during Sundance in rented space at the bottom of the Town Lift for at least the last two years.
“It’s time for us to do something unique,” Best said, envisioning the Tao setup as being a “unique 360 degree underground nightclub.”
He said the space will not resemble a garage once the Tao furnishings are installed. Best and the Sweeney family negotiated for nine months before reaching an agreement, Best said.
Corporate interests in recent years have been jockeying for space on or near Main Street during Sundance, paying big money for prime spots, as Park City leaders have discouraged them from setting up party places in neighborhoods.
But there is limited space available on Main Street during the festival, and a location like the garage underneath the Town Lift Plaza, which is steps from Main Street, could be seen in future years as an attractive alternate to Main Street itself if the 2011 setup is successful.
“It’s unique. It’s a big venue site on Main Street. Where else do you have that capability,” Sweeney said.
Sweeney said he expects final plans will be filed with City Hall for the Tao setup early next week.
Kurt Simister, the senior building inspector, said officials will ensure there is proper ventilation at the site for occupancy. He said carbon monoxide is already monitored in the garage, which is outfitted with a ventilation system that turns on if the carbon monoxide buildup becomes too high.