After a special session on May 28, the Park City Council voted to close Main Street to vehicle traffic on Sundays, beginning June 14.
The new event, which will be called “Park City Dine and Stroll,” will provide social distancing opportunities for businesses, as well as residents and visitors looking to walk along Main Street during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Park City Economic Development Manager Johnathan Weidenhamer said on KPCW’s Mountain Money that this new initiative not only provides a car-free area for the community, but also provides expanded space for shops and restaurants to operate amid increased restrictions due to the pandemic.
“Can we repurpose some public area and have outdoor activity that can accommodate and facilitate business while doing it safely?" he said. "What this is right now is really a look to see, in the COVID times, how can we enable and help facilitate local businesses to try to conduct business responsibly and safely when there’s social distancing requirements,” he said. “In this case, can we repurpose some public area and have outdoor activity that can accommodate and facilitate business while doing it safely?”
The street will be closed to vehicles from 11am until 10pm each Sunday until September 6. Alison Kuhlow of the Historic Park City Alliance added that the event won’t be a large-scale gathering like the already cancelled Park Silly Sunday market, but rather one where shops and restaurants along the street will have the opportunity to easily conduct curbside business.
“We’re just looking at having the merchants bring their indoor activities outside," she said. "What we’re looking to see is truly having our merchants come out onto the street within the parallel parking spaces,” she said. “People are concerned about social distancing and may not be comfortable going inside a shop. Bring the activity outdoors, we’re not looking at 10-by-10 tents up and down the street, we’re just looking at having the merchants bring their indoor activities outside.”
According to Weidenhamer, participating in the Dine and Stroll won’t cost businesses any additional fees in order to allow them to make as much money as possible. Additionally, as of right now, all parking will be free in the downtown area of Park City.
“We’ll make adjustments as necessary, it’s a moving target," he added. "As with everything, we’re going to have to see how this rolls out and see how it goes,” he added. “We’ll make adjustments as necessary, it’s a moving target.”
The Park City Council also left open the possibility of adding additional days to the schedule depending on the popularity of the event and its economic impact.
