In the year since Park City announced they were creating the Arts and Cultural District to keep the Kimball Art Center and the Sundance Institute in town, just incremental progress has been made. The Kimball Art Center recently hired a new architect but there hasn’t been any movement from Sundance, yet. Melissa Allison has more:
The Park City Council instituted a new one-percent transient room tax last year to pay off the $19.5 million purchase of just over five acres in the Bonanza Park to develop the arts and culture district.
The Sundance Institute and Kimball Art Center have both signed letters of intent to purchase parcels from the city on which they will both build new buildings and they’ve all agreed to work together in the planning process.
Planning Director Bruce Erickson said while both nonprofits have provided memorandums of understanding – the deal isn’t set in stone yet.
“It’s gotta move through the regulatory process before we can get hard commitments from everybody," Erickson said. 'They’ve got to understand what the city wants from them. We have to understand what they’re asking for. Go through the master plan development process. Understand the design guidelines and the architectural controls on the district. The planning department is very cautious about back of the house services and making sure this district functions correctly, not just the front of house but the back of the house.”
While there hasn’t been any announcement from Sundance, Erickson says the art center is moving forward with its plans. The architect it’s hired, Bjarke Ingalls of Denmark, is the same firm that won the Kimball’s design competition when it was located at the corner of Main St. and Heber Ave. While some loved the new design which had hints of a former iconic building that used to tower over the site, the Coalition building, others likened it to a spiral log cabin that doesn’t fit with historic old town. Given the public condemnation and city’s reluctance to approve the necessary height exceptions, the Kimball sold its property and moved.
Due to the height restriction in the arts district, Erickson said those same plans would not work in this location either.
Erickson doesn’t anticipate anything coming back from Kimball or Sundance until the fall.
As for getting a hard commitment from either organization – Erickson said there has to be an entitlement approved and a clear understanding between the city and the potential sub developers.
In addition to being the headquarters for the two organizations, the city’s website states they want the development to include other arts and culture-related infrastructure, including a “transit hub, parking and affordable housing for residents and artists.”
I’m Melissa Allison, KPCW News.
