The Kimball Garage Owner Tony Tyler and his staff gave about 28 people a tour of the entire facility that has had Old Town residents up in arms after they announced they wanted to turn the rooftop into a special event space which would include a deck. Melissa Allison joined the group and tells us the locals are not impressed:
“We’re going to take a walk through a portion of the building," said Park City Planning Director Bruce Erickson. "This is an active construction zone so stay on the walkway. We’re going to have to go the back way to the event space because they just laid new tile, am I right Tony? “
“Correct,” said Developer Tony Tyler.
“This is Tony Tyler, the applicant," Erickson said. "The planning commission will review things today but there won’t be any discussion about what we’re talking about because we’re not in session at our normal location so don’t ask us any questions we can’t answer. And we probably won’t talk about the project at all when we go back to the…”
The newly renovated Kimball Garage faces Heber Ave. and stretches between Park Ave. and Main St. Upon entering the double doors that face Heber Ave., you can see the historic garage on the left with the main staircase on the right which takes you up to the special event space, proposed by Tyler.
“So, this is the main entrance up to the event space here," said Tyler. "This is actually the wall of the historic building so, we removed the paint that was there from the 70’s and 80’s and 90’s and everything else. But, this is the original concrete wall that you see here so, we did add back the historic windows but come on through. If you want to follow Craig Elliott. Craig is our architect on the project. For those of you who didn’t hear…”
Because of some newly laid tile, the group - which included the entire Park City Planning Commission, Council Member Lynn Ware Peek, some city staff and Old Town residents - accessed the special event space from a stairway located at the back of the building.
As the group entered, Tyler explained how the special event space could be used.
“We have a line on this side of the elevator which has access on both sides," said Artchitect Craig Elliott. "Because it’s a – there’s a series of different levels in the building and so, the elevator has these two sides for the seven stops in a very short distance and that also provides ADA access to the roof terrace. So there’s three different points that come into that. There will be doors in each one of these areas here that separate the lobby form the event space."
“So the piece you didn’t get to walk on is the common space where you land at the top of the stairs, just inside here," Tyler said. "And so the concept is interms of fledxibility that an individual space can be locked off from the other spaces. This is kind of our largest area right here in the corner in terms of capacity and it steps down to the open scale in capacity with the last phase which I call the boardroom…”
The group then walked out onto the rooftop deck which led to many questions.
One resident asked about live music on the patio.
“So musicians, on the outside, how will that work?" asked one Old Town resident.
“They could be located, almost anywhere," Tyler said. "It’s really subject to the noise ordinance. You’re probably going to get some reverberation off the façade of the glass which is why the sound trap is in place.
“So explain again how that soffit will work then,” requested another Parkite.
“There’s perforations in that metal that’s open," Elliott said. "And so sound will go up and get dispersed and it will do a couple of things. One of them go in and some of them go in and get absorbed by the rockwool above it – it’s a sound insulation – its located above that perforated panel.”
Commissioner Laura Suesser had her own questions about its use.
“So the deck is heated, and do you anticiapte heaters out here during the winter?" Suesser said. "Will it be an all season deck, like use it all year round?”
“Potentially it could be," Tyler said. "The heaters aren’t really for the winter, because the heaters never really get warm enough. But it does help extend the seasons. And actually what you see around right here, ...natural gas outlet so that you can do a portable heater and then remove it and take it down to the storage space.”
Two residents asked about the lighting inside the facility and on the rooftop deck.
“That’s going to be a big, big beacon out here, isn’t it?” asked a woman who lives nearby.
“They are all recessed strip lights so that... an impact," Elliott said. "There’s not a direct glare where they hit the outside.”
“And the exterior light is all," asked one man. "Just the canned light you have now?”
“Yeah, they’re all recessed," Elliott said. "With the down shot that has a restricted angle.”
The group moved to the basement where Tyler gave some of the details about how they plan to deal with load-in and load-out.
“So right here is the elevator that services all four floors," Tyler said. "So, the idea here from a load-in/out perspective is that we built this storage space which is actually below Main St. so that most of the accouterments to an event space: tables, chairs, flatware, a bar - really anything that could be utilized for an event space doesn’t have to be rented from a rental company. It can be stored on site, so you don’t have that load-in load-out for every single event…”
KPCW asked some of the locals what they thought about the facility after seeing it.
Gregg Vagstad lives on Park Ave.
“I don’t think its changed my opinion," Vagstad said. "I think there’s still a lot of potential issues that have not been resolved at all. I think there’s a lot of work to be done yet, that’s for sure.”
Hope Melville has been following the development from the beginning. After seeing the project form the inside out, she says its going to be a problem.
“My concern is, noise on the roof, traffic, congestion, loading/unloading, no facilities except on the public street for loading and unloading of people and everything else,” Millville said.
The commissioners returned to City Hall for the regularly scheduled meeting and provided an opportunity for the public to comment but none was given.
The item was continued to September 26 for further review.
I’m Melissa Allison, KCPW News.
