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Show Inauguations bring optimism On Friday, two additions to Park City the Main Street Trolley and the Town Lift will be inaugurated. There are some local critics of the trolley and especially the chairlift. They look at the ski lift, sitting beside Park Avenue, surrounded by a vacant lot, homes and no parking. They see it as yet another step in the erosion ero-sion of Park Avenue and the destruction of Main Street. But the trolley and the Town Lift are contributions by the town and the Park City Ski Area to the rejuvenation of Main Street. They are enticements to build either hotels or condominiums con-dominiums in the Depot area and on redevelopment land in Swede Alley. Facilities in both areas will be able to tout their lodgings as having both downtown and the slopes at their doorsteps. Not a bad combination. Skiers can take a short walk to the lift and ski. The lift would drop them back at their condos or hotel rooms. Visitors then could take the trolley up to Main Street. -Deer Valley visitors can jump a free city bus and take a c few Park City Ski Area runs with ease. The trolley and lift also will be some compensation for the beleaguered Main Street merchants, who have seen their share of business drop as additional commercial space has been built at the resorts, Prospector Square i and Holiday Village Mall. If an RDA hotel is built east of Main Street above Swede Alley, the Main Street Entrance Lodge and significant tourist lodging is built in the Depot area as proposed, Main Street would benefit from both. , "..rA The proposed Marsac Hotel, as currently proposed,... would create about 275 lodging units. The Depot area developers tell city officials they plan to build 400 hotel ;: rooms and 71 condominium units. But the developers also want to create 104,000 square feet of retail space, adding to the current glut of retail space on Main Street. And they reportedly hope to break ground on the project in April. City planners say the developers can build up to four times the amount of commercial space for every square foot of land in the Depot area: for instance, a 10,000-square-foot-lot could be developed into 40,000 square feet of retail space. The city also says that the developer, Richard A. Minkoff Custom Homes (RAMCO) has declined to participate par-ticipate in the city master-planning process. In that light, we urge RAMCO to build retail in proportion propor-tion to the expected need created by the new lodging units and develop a symbiotic, not competitive, rela- Editorial tionship with Main Street merchants. That would help preserve the very area that is the development's greatest drawing card. A healthy, vibrant Main Street can't help but make the Depot development a more attractive choice for lodging. The Park Record also has concerns about the effect of the Town Lift and the Depot development on erosion of r residential uses along Park Avenue. - , Park Avenue is a historic street and a gateway to -historic Old Town. The Depot project probably will include in-clude tall buildings because the city made zoning con-, cessions with landowners so that it could acquire the land to build Deer Valley Drive. ' Ironically, Deer Valley Drive was built in part to take ; pressure off Park Avenue and preserve it as a residen-; tial street. To then consign the town's original:': " thoroughfare to strip commercial development because r. of the impending new construction seems contradictory. Driving up Park Avenue is, in some ways, a glimpse into Park City's past. Even though some of the original ,: miners' homes are run down, they still reflect an era in Park City the hard times and the meager livings eked out by the town's early residents. It is that history that : . tourists seek when they choose Park City over, say, Alta or Snowbird. - We owe it to ourselves, and our visitors, to preserve , that history. The new ski lift and the trolley could help bring more visitors back into Park City's historic district. And that " is good. Park City is entering a new era of optimism. After a . depressing summer, a barrage of snow has opened two ' of our resorts ahead of schedule. Bookings for Thanksgiving week are three times those of last year. And there is a light at the end of the tunnel for local realtors, now that Congress appears to be rejecting a number of President Reagan's proposed tax changes. In all, it's a time for celebration and looking expectantly expec-tantly rather than anxiously into the future. It's about time. Have a happy Thanksgiving. |