Every January the Sundance Film Festival comes along for 10 days and Old Town turns into a street filled with people who work in front of the movie camera as well as those who are behind it and Old Town business booms. Some business owners can make their year’s quota in those ten short days.
The down side has been closed down businesses the rest of the year. Park City’s Mayor Jack Thomas said the city is working hard to change that.
“We know that the Claim Jumper now has a tenant stepping in," Thomas said. "We’re putting a little more pressure on those entities that are still either dragging their feet through the construction process –for years – and those that seem to think they can make their money during Sundance.”
The Claim Jumper has been empty for several years with the exception being during Sundance. But that is longer the case since the building is now the new home of the Prospect Gallery who had their un-crating event last week.
But the mayor isn’t stopping there. He said the city has been looking at other ways to add incentive to those who are dragging their feet.
“That is something that concerns us greatly," Thomas said. "We’ve talked about aspects of that could put a little pressure on like their liquor permits and their C-O’s and other aspects.”
The city is creating new ordinances that will greatly help rectify the dark storefronts on Main St. and though they should be on the books by November’s end – the city won’t be enforcing them just one short month before the event.