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Show Wed/Thurs/Fri, February 19-21, 2020 A-7 The Park Record W Green Tips ‘It’s a road you’ll have to walk someday’ Forget the firewood AY WE WERE Ski pioneers set sights on Park City Senior Center ERIC MOLDENHAUER Recycle Utah Sitting in front of a warm, crackling fireplace on a cold winter night is something we all enjoy, but it comes at a cost. Burning wood emits more pollution in the air than other heating devices and the smoke contains harmful and toxic pollutants. According to the Sierra Club, burning wood releases 75% more carbon dioxide emissions than using a natural gas furnace. Cars and trucks get most of the attention when it comes to air pollution but wood smoke is just as bad for our environment, contributing to smog, acid rain and other problems. Let’s keep our bluebird ski days! Along with the environmental impact, there is a significant health issue that comes from burning wood. The EPA warns that those with heart or respiratory issues should avoid STEVE LEATHAM Park City Museum In November of 1946, “two ski lovers and sportsmen” in Park City, Otto Carpenter and Bob Burns, approached Mel Fletcher, president of the Snow Park Ski Club, seeking the group’s cooperation and support of a project to build a ski lift in “Frog Valley.” Believing that Burns and Carpenter had the fortitude and ambition to tangle with the weather and many obstacles ahead, Fletcher offered the club’s “full cooperation to Bob and Otto” and urged the citizens to support something which was good for the city, its businesses and general recreation. A month later the T-bar ski lift was in operation on Saturdays and Sundays at the head of Deer Valley. Bob Burns and Otto Carpenter worked hard during the summer and fall months of 1947 to convert the T-bar to a 1,400-foot chairlift that opened on Christmas day. Local ski enthusiasts could now enjoy the best of skiing without having to travel out of the city limits. Thirty years later the 72-year-old Carpenter and 67-year-old Burns teamed up again to bring something good to the city: A place where Park City senior citizens could come together, talk, play cards, sew, and enjoy time with one another. At the urging of station agent Fay Dearden, Union Pacific Railroad officials offered to give the Seniors the rustic 2,400 square-foot abandoned train station in Keetley. Built in 1923 as part of a $43 million Union Pacific program of im- PARK RECORD DIGITAL COLLECTION The Keetley Depot on its way to become Park City’s Senior Center. Once in place, the building would be renovated for use. provements, the Keetley Depot served as the scale house and agent’s office on the company’s Ontario Branch. It connected a five-and-three-tenthsmile railroad line built between Park City and the mouth of the Ontario drain tunnel at an approximate cost of $400,000. Carpenter and Burns, representing the Senior Citizens headed by former City Recorder Violet Terry, had found an ideal parcel of City owned ground at the 1400 block of Norfolk Avenue behind the fire station. They appeared before the City Council on May 6, 1976, asking for the piece of land. The Park Record reported that the Council was very re- ceptive to the proposal, but City Recorder Bruce Decker reminded the members that the property was very near the resort and was quite valuable. Raising a finger, Otto Carpenter heatedly replied, “We know the ground is worth a lot of money, but we feel our senior citizens are every bit as important as the resort. It’s a road you’ll have to walk someday.” Little more was said of the property’s value and Councilwoman Eleanor Bennett insisted on making the motion transferring the property, with details of the exact agreement between the City and the Seniors to follow. The motion carried unanimously. City Attorney Carl Nemelka drew up an agreement providing for a 99-year lease at $1 per annum giving either party the right to terminate the contract at any time. The Senior Citizens declined to sign. The Seniors believed that “the city’s right to terminate the lease should be based on the condition that the building cease to serve in its projected capacity.” A settlement was soon reached. Stay tuned for part two about the Senior Center! And make sure to visit the Museum and our current traveling exhibit on the Transcontinental Railroad, from which the Union Pacific extended to Park City, then out to Keetley. wood smoke if possible. If you are still burning wood to heat your home, the state wants you to take a look at a program that will make a big difference in our air quality. The Utah Department of Environmental Quality developed a Wood Stove Conversion Assistance Program that is intended to incentivize residents to convert their fireplace or wood stove into a natural gas or propane device. Qualified households can receive grants to pay for the conversion from wood to these other, cleaner options. Please visit stoves.utah.gov for more information and as always, let’s find ways to make our community a cleaner, greener place to live, play and work. Recycle Utah, your community non-profit drop-off recycling center, provides these weekly tips. Visit their website for more information – www.recycleutah. org. Buttigieg picks up SLC endorsements City, county mayors throw in with chief of South Bend, Ind. ASSOCIATED PRESS SALT LAKE CITY – Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has a trio of new endorsements in Utah. Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson and her father, former Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilson, announced their presidential pick on Friday. Buttigieg held a town hall in Salt Lake on Monday where the two spoke and a third, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, made an additional endorsement. Jenny Wilson said in a statement that Buttigieg would be a unifying leader who could both energize the party’s base and attract moderates. Ted Wilson complimented the full Democratic presidential field, but said Buttigieg, a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, would be the best qualified to run the country. Another prominent Democrat, U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams, made a different choice, announcing last month that he is endorsing former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg. The announcements come as Utah prepares for an earlier, more closely watched primary date on March 3, known as Super Tuesday because a number of significant, heavily populated states will vote. Bernie Sanders decisively won the Utah Democratic caucus in 2016, and polls indicate he remains popular among left-leaning voters in the state. 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