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Show CITY Developers Purchase Depot, Property : jX"mj., 4J XA. i- . -r ; -----r- , ?!f ' k'C... 3 .. U " - ; - 4 s : L w r prr-ww, ... ? -..tSn - . if' i , ! ' : - J - J j I it , 1 i ; t I -1 j : .. . ' ... . : " ' - 1 . .. - -s The Park City Depot and its adjoining property has been sold to a Salt Lake City development firm, it ws disclosed recently. A company owned by Ladd Christensen and Blaine Huntsman, Park City Depot Corp., purchased the depot and approximately 8V2 acres of adjoining property. The purchasers declined to reveal the price or other terms of the transaction. Cory Rasmussen, senior vice-president oi Huntsman-Christensen. Corp. said the developers devel-opers have no definite plans "at this point" of what they intend to do with the property. But Christensen said in a prepared press release that the property "can be developed in an attractive and-high quality manner that will both extend and enhance the historical charm of older Park City." "We anticiapte working very closely with planning and building officials as well as the Main Street Merchants Association and others to insure a sound integration of the project with other visual and functional elements of the community," Christensen sa:.d in the release. "We plan to remove all of the rail cars on the acquired property that are not appropriately restored that may otherwise hamper the aesthestics." The corporation did not say in its release who they purchased the property from, nor did it reveal any plans for the old depot station and the adjoining property. At one time, the depot's former owners had major plans to renovate the depot and to construct other projects on the property. The original developers, Wally Wright, Salt Lake investors John Prince and Jack Sweeney, and local realtors Harry Reed and Bill Colemen, proposed the renovation of the depot building and the old Coalition building. Their project for the 13-acre depot area was presented to the Park City Planning Commission in March 1977. The plans called for the construction of a 100-room hotel in the center of the property, 10,000 square feet of commercial space between the hotel and the depot, three housing areas for nightly rentals scattered throughout the property, a recreation area and a possible convention center site. The developers also intended to build a trolley line to -of,.;o K-' r ' ' :;t tr,,f the Coalition building to the top of the Pay Day run at Park City Kesort. But the project became a controversial subject in Park City. A group of residents of Woodside Ave. retained a Chicago law firm to represent them in their opposition to the 48-lot Norfolk Avenue subdivision. The residents also circulated a petition requesting the planning commission and the city council to deny the subdivision's approval on the grounds that it would be "hazardous and unsightly." Later Sweeney dropped his partnership with the four others in the development, though he still planned to continue with the renovation of the Coalition building if it was economically feasible. But planning commission members began voicing concerns over changes in the original master plan becauseof the split between Sweney and the others involved in the project. And in November 1977, planning commission chairman Burnis Watts told the city council "there has been some deviation from the original intent" of the depot project. Watt's request for council review of the project was a result of "many complaints" made to then City Councilwoman Eleanor Bennett. In June 1977, the city council approved the developers' requested zone c'nanges. The council granted a commercial zone for 8.7 acre Depot site and changed the zoning of 2.1 acres of the proposed 48-lot Norfolk subdivision. The developers were given the green light to begin work on the development by the Park City Planning Commission, but the approval of the Norfolk Avenue subdivision was denied by the commission in July 1977. Train cars began rolling into the city in September 1977, and Wright, who developed Trolley Square in Salt Lake City, announced that work on the depot project would begin during the Spring of 1978. But more than two years after the project was proposed, several Park City residents, including members of the fire department, sewer district, and the Citizens Council filed a criminal suit, alleging the developers created a public nuisance by blocking the entrance to Pacific Ave. At that time only the landscaping plan and renovation of a few rail cars had begun. It is unknown why the project never was completed. L |