The leader of the Kimball Art Center appeared at City Hall on Thursday to argue in favor of a pre-pandemic concept to develop an arts and culture district in Park City, approaching Mayor Nann Worel and the Park City Council at a moment when it appears the discussions about the ambitious project are poised to restart.
Aldy Milliken, the executive director of the not-for-profit organization, spoke in broad terms about the concept, but the comments were notable nonetheless with the Kimball Art Center being one of the parties that has been involved with the discussions with the municipal government.
City Hall owns land stretching inward from the southwest corner of the intersection of Kearns Boulevard and Bonanza Drive. Officials have envisioned the land as the future site of an arts district anchored by the Kimball Art Center and the Utah offices of the Sundance Institute.
There appeared to be momentum prior to the pandemic, but there have since been questions about the cost, which could reach into the tens of millions of dollars, and the details of a project. The municipal government is expected to hold another round of community talks in coming months.
Milliken described the Kimball Art Center and Sundance as “two cultural stalwarts” and noted what he sees as the opportunity for arts-related development at the location.
“The property at Kearns and Bonanza, one of the key gateways to our city, is ripe for locally initiated cultural growth,” he told the elected officials, asking them to “respect” an earlier agreement between the sides.
Milliken said his organization “has embraced this vision.”
The Kimball Art Center for longer than a decade has sought new space, saying it had outgrown the historic building it once occupied along Main Street. The organization initially wanted to build a major expansion at the Old Town location but ultimately scrapped that vision amid community opposition to the architecture. The Kimball Art Center leadership at the time opted to sell the Old Town property and pursue a new building elsewhere. It has been housed in temporary space along Kearns Boulevard since 2015.
“We are almost 50 years old and I worry about the sustainability of our future for the next 50 years. Our current rent is a short-term solution, despite having an empathetic landlord. Our building is not designed for 2,000-degree kilns, welding, printmaking and all the other programs we provide. Our exhibition spaces need to be quality enough for a town such as ours, and they are currently not up to standard,” Milliken said.
The City Hall-backed arts and culture district appeared to be a permanent solution for a Kimball Art Center location. There seemed to be widespread community support for the concept at the outset, but only limited progress was made prior to the pandemic. There have been questions about the level of City Hall’s financial involvement in an arts district since.
“Given the complexities of building in our town, we stand committed to moving forward with this project as a positive community anchor,” Milliken said Thursday, relaying that the Kimball Art Center has the financial resources to move forward.
The elected officials did not respond to Milliken’s comments. The City Council in early March is slated to consider a contract with a consultant to study the feasibility of an arts district.