Thursday, March 24, 2011

Park City Main Street makeover, unveiled this week, could be dramatic

Main Street leaders on Monday unveiled blueprints for a dramatic makeover of the popular shopping, dining and entertainment strip, one that would involve ambitious brick-and-mortar projects stretching from the top to the bottom of the street.

The Historic Park City Alliance, a business group representing the Main Street district, made public a series of concepts that are under consideration during an open house held at the Alpine Internet Cafe inside the Kimball Art Center. The ideas, ranging from the construction of an ice-skating rink to making improvements to the sidewalks, would perhaps be the most dramatic change since the development of lower Main Street in the 1990s.

They are:

  • The Brew Pub parking lot at the top of Main Street. The idea is to build an ice-skating rink at the site. The concept also calls for a giant television screen to be placed at the location.
  • Miners Plaza, the small piece of land toward the midpoint of Main Street where restrooms, a seating area and the bronze miner statue are situated. The concept outlined on Monday calls for the plaza to be redesigned.
  • A site just next to the Main Street trolley turnaround at the bottom of Main Street. The concept envisions removing the turnaround in favor of building a park.
  • Main Street has spent the last ten-plus years trying to fend off increased competition, particularly from developments at or near Kimball Junction like Redstone and Newpark. But there is still concern that the street could lose business to the competitors without improvements like the ones the Historic Park City Alliance has outlined.

    Park Record