The Miners Day tradition is to race golf balls down Park City’s Main Street as a fundraiser for the local Rotary Club. 15,000 balls are launched from a roughly 15-foot tower for about three blocks.
But Rotarian and Summit County Councilmember Canice Harte said that tower disappeared a few months ago.
“A very generous local citizen who allowed us to store the tower on their property subleased part of the property to someone else,” he told KPCW's "Mountain Money."
The lessee asked if they could remove some “junk” on the property.
Unknown to the property owner, the wooden tower, more than a decade old, was what they meant. The lessee cut up the wood and sold off the trailer
Rotarians only discovered the loss at the beginning of summer.
“A few choice words were exchanged back and forth amongst us via text as we accepted the reality,” Harte said. “But you know, you quickly start to look at it like the glass is half full.”
He said the old wooden tower was a little rickety—and he knew someone who could build it better.
The county council had toured Hoytsville-based custom steel fabricator Reesco in February. Harte reached out and caught them at a good time, in between the usual projects building mining and other equipment.
They’ve traded wood for steel, painted brown to resemble a mining tower. It now holds about 25,000 golf balls and fits several people comfortably and safely on its elevated platform.
Rotarians have dubbed it "Tower 2.0," and Reesco engineer Alex McMullen told KPCW anyone will "be hard pressed to call it 'junk.'"
Reesco added Miners Day touches here and there like a minecart and crossed pickaxes.
McMullen explained how details like rounded bolts and additional steel plating will prevent balls from getting stuck. Tower 2.0 will come in at 13 feet 9 inches tall, complete with its own trailer.
“It's kind of cool when I think about Reesco making this and it not being mining equipment," Harte said. "But it kind of is, you know? It's playing off the mining heritage, and it's meant to replicate a lot of mining aesthetics. So in a way, it really is right in keeping.”
Harte added it has extra space to feature local businesses and nonprofits if they’d like to sponsor the tower.
Rotary may allow different sponsors to pull the steel lever that releases the balls each year, too.
You can see Tower 2.0’s debut at the Park City Miners Day celebration Monday, Sept. 2, and buy balls online here.
