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Show Modern developments change Park City... by CLIFF WILLIAMS Chronicle Staff Park City, Utah, once prosperous booming mining town that has survived three fires, two floods, snowslides and depressions, is now a victim of capitalism and commercial com-mercial trade. One of the biggest ski resorts in the United States, Park City looks back on its past and attempts to forecast the future. Like any other resort or recreational area, Park City, has its problems. Park City began its growth in the fall of 1869. The town itself was first settled and named by George Snyder in July 4, 1872, who ran the first boarding house. The city's business was mining with approximately 1,000 men, working eight hours a day, five days a week, earning a daily wage of $2.50. A roudy place. Park City even had 16 "red light" houses. This business ended in 1955 when concerned citizens from the Salt Lake and Heber Valley swooped down and eliminated this immorality. im-morality. Definitely changed Today, Park City has definitely changed. Condominiums are going up, people are opening new shops, and skiing and tourism are giving the town a new shape. These things aren't causing Park City to lose its flair, but they may destroy the old town atmosphere of a town which is only one of six like it surviving in the United States. Small towns lose some of their old charm when modern-day technology moves in. The old buildings and monuments soon have to die. This is not to say that 1 .j "y s,w's- ;'- 'X f S r OT4 M -Tt- in 1 1 1 I v L . as. - When Park City began its growth in the fall of 1869, its business was mining with approximately 11,000 men working eight hours a day, five days a week, and earning a daily wage of $2.50 its present conditions may be disastrous, but the new owner of Greater Park City, The Royal Street Development Company, is creating a change. Royal Street, whose offices are in Los Angeles, came into Park City last year, bought most of the land and areas about the town and made it what it is today. Park City was dying because of its disasters, misfortunes and depressions, and the city itself didn't have much to offer because there was simply no money coming in or going out. Royal Street came to the town that has produced 27 millionaires-including millionaires-including Thomas Kearns and David Keith-and has built condominiums, con-dominiums, apartment houses, better ski lifts and has increases tourist turnover 100 percent. Much contributed The owners of Greater Park City have contributed much to Park City and its residents, but it also has created some hardships. Some people don't agree that the corporation cor-poration is too beneficial. Mrs. Bea Kummer, proprietor of Beas' Canyon Lodge, believes that the condominiums just don't fit. "I don't like them , because they're too big,"said Bea. "Pretty soon, the condominiums will be coming up Main Street and I think Main Street should stay original so we can keep our old-town look. People try and build places that look like what they may have been in the past but it still doesn't look authentic and it ruins the beauty of the orginial look," she noted. On obtaining jobs in Park City, Mr. Kummer noted that the newness of Park City is bringing in more and more young people every day. "The people that come in take the places of our present jobs while they are here only during the summer and winter seasons," said Mr. Kummer. "They get first chance to jobs just to maintain for a certain amount of time, then leave when they get bored," he added. Changes come and go Mr. and Mrs. Kummer have lived in Park City all their lives and have seen the canges come and go. Mr. Kummer, a miner at the United Park City Venture Mine Company, is one of the originals left from the city's booming mining days. His wife, Bea, a writer, author and contributor to the town's, (and Utah's) oldest weekly newspaper, has been operating the lodge since 1964. Not all of Park City's residents (continued on page 5) ,n its atmosphere and aoDearanrp I i ; ; MA A from P39e 4) . uiew toward same v . o-j a C merchandise, says ;5ave helped the town " '''1 ,Be Park City grow," - eel that the Royal Sp 1 has hbrouht 1 Jurism into the valley - ; od because they are the Jre helping keep Park ;SMhe skiers and wall over the place and . Ste Park City. The ,c.ty helped young, amb,tious L started and learn what - management is like, she i Still mining l street hasn't stopped Park continuing to do what it m doing since its founding. :rirfl company has plans to ' -ji two million tons of ore - -je next few years and the ' definitely boom again as it its past years. Even though ., miners left Park City to go ,ikat steel companies in Salt , .then the mines closed, many ' Today, Park City has changed from the little mining town of the 1800's. Condominiums are going up, people are opening new shops, and . skiing and tourism are giving the town a new shape. These things aren't causing Park City to lose its flair, but they may be destroying the old-town old-town atmosphere. In explanation of this, it is simple to say that there can't be the good old clean, simple mining town of Park City and its beauty, which is what the people want, when there has to be new development in the city to keep it alive. Direction uncertain No one really knows in what direction Park City is going or where it will end up in the future. No one can determine whether the people helping to keep the place alive, such as the new owner and tourist, really care about the city. It is evident that 90 percent of Park City's activities each day consist of transients and tourist. Could Park City split and have the old pan still in the center of town and the new part where the condominiums are being constructed, con-structed, causing two separate towns? About $100 million is expected to be spent on the redevelopment of Park City within the next few years by the developement company and mining industry. Park City, Utah, one of the oldest mining towns and most properous ski resorts in America.. ..let's hope it can stay alive. am. itd, tourist and skiers and oya'l Street, have built Park Swhat it is now, but what of jople that have been living :i their lives, the old timers -ners what is their position 'it City? i and Mrs. Kummer can ratr the days when there : friendly people and close lis in the town. It was more rometown where you knew rd everyone in the city. :ji recall the day of the fire :tiped out the whole city, r Jie Chinese people felt was a jidtime for them to leave and igger Hollow, named after an lack man called Uncle Tobe, :: be changed to Silver Hollow al trouble," said Mr. Kum- j Those days gone tte days of helping each 'out and minorities not being "Jiirated against are gone. am though the people of the :'(ve changed the name of the Empire Canyon to Daily 'w, named after one of Park is millionaires, it's still the old W' noted Mrs. Kummer. another point of view, Guy 421-year-old part owner of (Utah Coal and Lumber rV, a Mexican foods says that the young aren't trying to take over I1 City. j-JPeople eventually leave and Fscomeinto keep things Ration," said Guy. Although ; s"eet has come in and :d a business doesn't ;,old Park City will die :' added. fett that they are here is good. Houses have been ,'ed and are falling apart e ,0wn needs new ;wnt"ltmay be bad in the ;"t this new development Park Citys' oldness, but technology," Guy people in park city are beginning to face the fact that Park City must change from the old to the new, even though the new may be damaging. To clarify what may be damaging to the little town besides the crowding out of the old, a perfect example would be to emphasize on the town's ecology. Chevron Oil Company, which has three stations in Park City, may complete their plans to pump oil underground from Vernal, approximately ap-proximately 150 miles east of Park City, to the town so that they can provide heat and service their stations there. The bad part about this is that in the winter, the crude oil gets thick and needs to be heated so that it will run smoothly. "For this, Chevron Oil plans to build two 120 foot stacks to bum 25,000 gallons of oil a day down at the junction of the city," according to a local merchant. Although this may just be in the planning stage, it would make more sense to truck it in rather than bum the cold crude oil and cause pollution over the Heber Valley," he stated. Future unpredictable Scott Zimmerman, a 25-year-old photographer and owner of the "Outlook," feels that whatever happens to Park City in the future is unpredictable at this moment. "Park City was dead with nothing going on until the people from California came and Royal Street began building," noted Scott. They are good for the business because they may be making this the biggest resort in the world with the money they are bringing into this town," he added. "It's true that some of the long time residents here didn't like the newcomers because of various reasons such as the favorite phrase, 'hippies', but the things that are happening here now are financially good for Park City," said Scott. Contradictions are running amuck in the town of Park Crty. People want one thing but can t have it because they need another thing. |