The City Hall request for proposals seeking concepts for development on municipal land off the intersection of Kearns Boulevard and Bonanza Drive outlines a vision for the acreage.
Housing is desired, as are retailers and community space. A location for the Kimball Art Center is also sought.
But the request for proposals does not include the word “Sundance.”
The exclusion of Sundance from the request for proposals is the latest evidence that the discussions about the future of the land, at least outwardly, are proceeding without one of the parties originally envisioned as an anchor to a development.
The request for proposals covers five acres of municipal land. City Hall acquired the ground with the intention of creating an arts and culture district. The Kimball Art Center and the Utah offices of the Sundance Institute were poised to anchor the district.
Although the Kimball Art Center remains committed to pursuing the development of a new space on the land, there are deep-rooted questions about Sundance’s interest in a development.
The idea of City Hall developing an arts and culture district dates to the municipal government’s acquisition of the land in the pre-pandemic era. There appeared to be broad support at the time for a project involving the two arts organizations. But questions increased amid the grip of the pandemic and rising cost estimates for a project. Sundance’s role in a development at times seemed tenuous.
Sundance Film Festival organizers earlier in 2024 began a process that could result in the event moving to another place. A combined bid to host the festival involving Park City and Salt Lake City has advanced to a final round of consideration, alongside Boulder, Colorado, and Cincinnati, Ohio.
It is not known whether Sundance would show renewed interest in a development in Park City on the municipal land if it opts to keep the festival in Utah on a long-term basis.
Neither City Hall nor Sundance immediately responded to Park Record inquiries regarding the exclusion of Sundance from the request for proposals.