Main Street over the decades has thrived even amid the new competition.
The shopping, dining and entertainment strip continued to draw the crowds after the arrival of the factory stores years ago at Kimball Junction. Other commercial districts in the area of Kimball Junction did not seem to significantly impact Main Street. And the street has retained its status as nearby Prospector has become a commercial alternative.
In a brief but intriguing comment on Thursday evening, a member of the Park City Council mentioned Main Street in the context of the municipal government’s long-running discussions about the future of City Hall ground in Bonanza Park. Leaders are amid a wide-ranging discussion about the City Hall-controlled land as well as the broader Bonanza Park district as they craft visions for both. The elected officials and the community have broached numerous issues over the months of the discussions.
Ed Parigian, a City Councilor, on Thursday made a comment about the prospects of commercial spaces eventually being developed on the municipal land, which stretches inward from the southwest corner of the Kearns Boulevard-Bonanza Dive intersection.
“I don’t want to be a threat to Main Street … retail in general, restaurants, retail, whatever,” Parigian said.
He described the municipal land as being part of the larger district. The broader Bonanza Park involves a patchwork of properties under different ownership and with businesses that offer a variety of goods and services. The part of the city has long been seen as more utilitarian in nature and a place where the everyday needs of Parkites are met as compared to the tourism-driven Main Street.
Parigian argued other developers in Bonanza Park would provide retailers and restaurants as he spoke about his desires that the municipal land not play that role. He said the municipal land does not “need to be the end all.”
“It’s all going to be one big thing, right?” he said, adding, “We don’t have to be the hub of retail.”
Under that vision, he said, there would be more room in a development for services like childcare and so-called maker spaces, or locations for creative endeavors.
“I don’t think we need to harp on more, more, more retail,” he said.
There was a brief discussion about a need for revenue production and whether the community desires retail space within an eventual project.
The elected officials on Thursday were not scheduled to make critical decisions about the land, and the meeting was the latest in a series of City Council discussions about the acreage.
In an interview after the meeting, Parigian stressed a desire for a development to be “local oriented.” He said the prospects of housing on the land, another key aspect of the talks, would help create community.
“I don’t want to be a tourist destination over there. I want it to be locals,” Parigian said, adding, “It’s going to be a really cool place.”
The city councilor also acknowledged Main Street is “very critical to this town.”
It is not clear how heavily any commercial aspects of a development would be debated as details of a project are crafted. It is likely, though, a variety of existing business interests would monitor the discussions about commercial space. Main Street could especially be interested since new nearby commercial offerings could be seen as competition.
City Hall acquired the land in Bonanza Park with the intentions of developing an arts and culture district with the Kimball Art Center and the Utah offices of the Sundance Institute as the anchors. The current discussions, though, have drifted from the original vision. It is likely there will continue to be an arts and cultural influence on any development, but it is not clear whether a project will ultimately be built as a district like the one that was conceptualized when the municipal government acquired the land.
The Kimball Art Center continues to press for a development resembling an arts district while the future of Sundance in Park City is unclear with organizers currently considering whether to move the film festival to another location.