According to an article in today’s Park Record, Deer Valley Resort is continuing to research the possibility of building a gondola that would link its slopes to Main Street, Park City. This idea was discussed earlier in the year, but has not been talked about publicly since then.
Bob Wheaton, president of Deer Valley Resort, said that Deer Valley is researching a few spots in Silver Lake Village as the location for one of the terminals. Although he did not provide details, he indicated that the Silver Lake terminal does not need to be located on the ski slopes themselves. Additionally, he noted that the gondola would be used during both the summer and the ski season.
Deer Valley also sees the Brew Pub parking lot, which is owned by City Hall, as the location of the terminal on Main Street. "I think that we made a lot of progress, but there hasn't been anything concrete," Wheaton said.
According to the article, Deer Valley and Park City officials would eventually need to reach an agreement if the resort wants to locate the terminal at the Brew Pub lot. Some options would be Deer Valley purchasing or a leasing the needed land. The resort and Doppelmayr, a manufacturer that could be hired to build the gondola, have also been in discussions.
Although details of the route between Deer Valley and Silver Lake have not been finalized, Wheaton said that the resort is most interested in a route that runs from Silver Lake Village, down a line roughly parallel with Marsac Avenue and into the Brew Pub lot. The route envisions the gondola running along the east side of Marsac Avenue, and it has been seen as one of the most promising given its longtime status as a transportation corridor. Marsac Avenue is also a residential street along the stretch closest to Old Town. So far organized opposition has not been formed.
Wheaton indicated that a gondola could be opened for the 2014-2015 ski season. He said there has been widespread support from Main Street's leadership, people who own homes in Silver Lake and Old Town residents. He also stated that he has not received a negative comment.
If a gondola is built between Deer Valley and the Brew Pub lot, it would serve as a second skiing bookend to Main Street, something that would give Deer Valley and Park City a competitive advantage. We’ll keep you posted as more detail emerges.
