Deer Valley Still Focused on Main Street Gondola

By Nancy Barth
Dec 26, 2012

Silver Lake Village in Deer Valley, Utah 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.

Tags: Deer Valley Resort, Deer Valley, Historic Main Street Park City Utah, Park CIty Utah, Deer Valley Utah, Wasatch Brew Pub, Silver Lake Village, Main Street Gondola
Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Responses to "Deer Valley Still Focused on Main Street Gondola"

Early Support for the Deer Valley – Main Street Gondola

By Nancy Barth
Aug 04, 2012

Historic Main Street Park City Utah, Deer Valley Main Street GondolaAccording to today’s article in the Park Record, there seems to be early support for a gondola connecting Deer Valley Resort to Main Street, Park City.  It has been over three weeks since Deer Valley has publicized the idea, and even without details being known there seems to be support from various interest groups on the street.

According to Greg Schirf, owner of the Wasatch Brew Pub, at the top of Main Street, a Deer Valley gondola “would add some excitement and panache to Main Street.”  

He further added that a gondola with a terminal in the Brew Pub lot would be very attractive to his restaurant-bar, even if it meant losing some parking spaces in the lot in favor of a gondola terminal.  "I think it'd be good for all of Main Street. I think it'd be good for Park City's tax base," Schirf said.

As noted in our previous blog, Deer Valley is exploring options to build a gondola between the resort and Main Street and is researching approximately six alignments.  A terminal at the Brew Pub lot, which is a public lot controlled by City Hall, seems to be attracting a lot of interest.  According to the article, the location would give Deer Valley Resort frontage on Main Street, and a gondola to the lot could be shorter in distance than one to the lower part of Main Street. Furthermore, if Deer Valley builds a gondola to the upper part of Main Street, the Town Lift, operated by Park City Mountain Resort, and the gondola would “bookend” Main Street with connections to the resorts. Park City would be the only place in North America with downtown links to two mountain resorts.

The Historic Park City Alliance, a group that represents businesses on or close to Main Street, has not discussed the concept in any depth, but according to Alison Butz, the group’s executive director, the alliance is “excited about the prospects.”  Andy Beerman, a City Councilman and owner/manager of the Treasure Mountain Inn, indicated that he also backs the idea.

To read the article in its entirety, please click this link.

Tags: Deer Valley Resort, Park City Mountain Resort, Deer Valley, Historic Main Street Park City Utah, Wasatch Brew Pub
Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Responses to "Early Support for the Deer Valley – Main Street Gondola"