The Kimball Art Center and the Sundance Institute years ago were tapped as the anchors for an arts and culture district Park City leaders planned to develop.
Many Parkites at the time seemed elated with the prospects of a district, something that they envisioned would further cultural tourism in the community and help diversify the economy.
Six-plus years after City Hall, the Kimball Art Center and Sundance announced the concept, only limited progress has been made toward the development of an arts district. And there has appeared to be more questions over the course of the past several years about whether the municipal government should pursue such an ambitious project dedicated to arts and culture.
A crowd on Wednesday evening at the Park City Library provided the most recent round of input about the future of the land where the arts district could someday be developed, which stretches inward from one of the corners of the intersection of Bonanza Drive and Kearns Boulevard.
The event at the library capped an especially informative day regarding the City Hall land under consideration for an arts district and the wider Bonanza Park district, where significant redevelopment could occur. A well-attended walking tour stopped at a variety of locations on or close to Bonanza Drive, Kearns Boulevard and Park Avenue that are seen as important to the future prior to the crowd gathering at the library.
One of the exercises that attracted the attention of people at the library involved writing brief comments on sticky notes. The notes, which were left anonymously, covered numerous issues related to the municipal land or Bonanza Park.
Some of the people who left sticky notes centered their opinions on the arts district. Although the messages were brief and they represent a small sampling of people, they illustrate support at some level for the concept of an arts district even if questions remain.
The sticky notes seemed to mention the Kimball Art Center more frequently than Sundance, and others that were left were intended to cover the entire concept of an arts district rather than the two anchors.
“The Kimball should be the major architectural feature just as the Guggenheim is in New York,” one person wrote on a sticky note, referring to the famed museum building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
The comments were left at an important moment in the discussions. Although there was widespread support at the time of the announcement of the intentions to develop an arts district, some of that enthusiasm has seemed to wane in the intervening years, amid concerns about dollar figures running into the tens of millions.
The work is ongoing regarding a vision for Bonanza Park and the land where the arts district is proposed, with critical decisions pending that could reshape a wide swath of Park City for decades.
The Kimball Art Center is an intriguing element of the talks. The not-for-profit organization was based in a building along Main Street for decades before selling the property after a high-profile development dispute about designs for an expansion. It moved into temporary quarters along Kearns Boulevard, where it remains, as a long-term scenario is devised. An arts district has been seen as that scenario.
Sundance, meanwhile, is engaging in a broad review of the future of the film festival. It is unclear what the review will mean for the organization’s role in an arts district.
Some of the comments left on sticky notes mentioning the Kimball Art Center in a supportive way:
- “The Kimball creates & captures value”
- “Kimball Art Center must be part of site”
- “Art Center over hotel”
- “Art tops pickleball!”
- “Kimball Art Center contributes to the fabric of the community”
Some of the criticism or questions left on the sticky notes, covering a range of issues regarding the district and the two potential anchors:
- “The public needs to be told that Kimball and Sundance will pay for their own land & building”
- “PC does not need more arts & culture If they want to be a part must pay”
- “Rescuing Kimball is a low priority for me”
- “No welfare for Sundance + Kimball”
- “Galleries do not attract people. Just ask big cities.”
