The Park City Council will consider a $338,000 change order with the architects of the upcoming Park City arts and culture district.
Park City Municipal has contracted with former Moab City Manager and San Juan County Interim Administrator David Everitt to oversee the arts and culture district development. Everitt is taking over as project manager because Redevelopment and Capital Management Director Nate Rockwood is leaving Park City Municipal after 12 years to take a job as community development director in Midvale. In addition to his previously mentioned posts, Everitt served as former Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker’s chief of staff and was involved in the development of the Eccles Center in Salt Lake.
Everitt explains the change order city council will consider approving Thursday is primarily to scope out the feasibility of some sort of pedestrian connection between the future arts and culture district and the Prospector side of Bonanza Drive. He says the area is dangerous for pedestrians.
“If we can get rid of that safety concern by creating an overhead connection, one that's aesthetically pleasing, that makes sense in the district, that could potentially become an iconic feature of and welcome people to the district visually as well as physically, then I think that's a primary goal there," Everitt said.
Architects haven’t yet determined a location for something like a pedestrian bridge, as the project is still in its design phase. Park City Manager Matt Dias says it’s difficult to bring all the parties together, with the Sundance Institute and Kimball Art Center as partners in the project, to coordinate the design process. Dias says the project has run into delays regarding scope, scale and engineering, and it’s soon moving forward the public phase.
“For us to have a local arts and culture district that's community-based and community-driven and has all sorts of residential components and small business components, we're trying to do it right,” Dias said.
Dias says he expects the arts and culture district master planned development application to come before the public by spring.
