On Wednesday, April 3, Park City Manager Matt Dias and KPCW “Local News Hour” host Leslie Thatcher discussed limitations at the Marsac Building. Dias talked renovations, while Thatcher inquired about what many in the community are pushing for — moving City Hall operations out to Gordo or another more suitable location.
At the Thursday, April 4, City Council meeting, a robust and smart discussion of the potential Marsac remodel ensued. Councilor Tana Toly hailed Marsac as “iconic” and pushed for the remodel. Councilors Bill Ciraco, Ed Parigian, and Jeremy Rubell more responsibly called for vetting other options on municipal-owned land before binding Parkites to additional investment in the aging and limited Marsac building. Parigian even suggested an appraisal of the Marsac property to support the community in weighing options.
Let’s be clear and current in our thinking. The time for City Hall to start packing up is now. Another costly (estimated at $2 million-$3 million) remodel at 445 Marsac is a waste of taxpayer money and fails to address the following issues:
- Marsac is a substandard street for the volume of cars feeding in and out of Deer Valley’s Silver Lake and Empire Pass.
- City Hall pushes ideology around parking reductions by forcing them on resorts and business districts. Yet City Hall takes up the most parking spots of any building within city limits. The exclusive fleet vehicle parking inside China Bridge is inconceivable from a community ROI standpoint.
- The Deer Valley Drive roundabout is one of our most congested and conflicted chokepoints. The staff says it can’t be re-engineered for safety or efficiency, so the only solution there is reduced traffic.
- Thoughout the efforts to purchase Bonanza Flats and prevent its development, the message was clear: We must keep cars off of Marsac.
Entitled Snow Park and Sommet Blanc developments now combine with our existing traffic to demand immediate downstream solutions. It is time for City Hall to do as it says and be part of solutions.
Eliminating hundreds of morning and evening rush-hour vehicle trips attributed to City Hall staff will immediately improve traffic and safety at the dangerous roundabout. Freeing up parking for patrons and event goers on surface lots and inside China Bridge will support our small businesses and tax revenue. Not to mention, we can sell the Marsac Building at market rate and recapitalize a new City Hall while pursuing a better use (boutique hotel, arts and culture, etc.) for the property abutting Park City’s primary recreation and entertainment zone (per the General Plan).
The Bonanza Park, Iron Horse and Snow Creek redevelopment zones desperately need a stable anchor tenant. A new economy of scale and technologically sufficient City Hall building would advance the efficiencies desperately needed inside any functional government headquarters. Located at the geographical center of Park City, it would provide immediate vibrance, support the area’s financial viability, and improve access to municipal services and meetings.
Self-serving, fiscally irresponsible, nostalgia-driven decision-making among Park City leaders and planners must end. The community called for “bold change” as part of Vision 2020. Protect The Loop recently went out on a limb and boldly proposed alternatives to Deer Valley’s Snow Park design. Most council members failed to see PTL’s vision, but Deer Valley finally did, and the latest iteration of Snow Park plans incorporates much of what PTL proposed, resulting in a win-win for the resort and community.
Four years ago, a unanimous Historic Park City Business Alliance championed a visioning effort for Old Town, which was repeatedly rejected by personally bitter ex-City Council members. The alliance’s preferred visioning team, Murray-Twohig, is now working for Extell Development on Deer Valley’s East Village Plaza.
So today let’s all be clear and understand that while the experts at Murray-Twohig are busy designing and refining operations at the new Deer Valley East Village plaza, we are discussing a $2 million-$3 million commitment to help City Hall operate in an outdated (but spectacular) building located at one of the most dangerous chokepoints in our city.
Before wasting another taxpayer cent on this ill-located and undersized city building, I urge our new council to pack it up and relocate City Hall operations to where it can best serve our community.
John Kenworthy of Park City is a former planning commissioner, past president of the Historic Park City Business Alliance, past chair Historic Preservation Board, and the owner of Flanagan’s on Main.