An Expansion of Historic Proportions
Art: Courtesy of Plunkett-Kuhr
Since 1984, locals and tourists alike have delighted in visiting Main Street’s Park City Museum and its 100-year-old Territorial Jail. Although widely recognized as a tiny jewel set in the heart of the historic district (drawing 65,000 visitors a year), the museum’s limited space allows only 10 percent of its holdings to be shown at one time.
An ambitious three-year expansion program will take advantage of a generous gift from Park City Municipal Corporation: a 99-year lease for the City Hall and adjacent former library buildings. “At last we will be able to celebrate our mining, pioneer, and skiing heritage and exhibit our newly acquired 2002 Olympic collection and the historic treasures now in storage,” marvels Sandra Morrison, the museum’s director. “Not only will it be possible to host traveling exhibitions, but we will even have room for the 1920s firetruck now residing in the Utah Firemen’s Museum in Tooele, Utah.”
Lynn Fey, who is spearheading the capital campaign for the museum expansion, came on board because she saw the opportunity for the Park City Museum to become an exciting cultural anchor of the historic district she has long loved. “To me, the idea of being involved in a project that will impact generations to come by establishing a world-class museum that becomes a destination point for Park City was irresistible,” she says.
The expanded museum will feature a large plaza in the back, which will complement the city’s development of a new Town Center in Swede Alley, including a parking garage and performing arts plaza. Visitors leaving Old Town’s Transit Center will be drawn into a revitalized Swede Alley, with walkways passing Dolly’s Bookstore and the Riverhorse restaurant, celebrating Park City’s history with outdoor exhibits and sculptures. To accomplish these wonders, Plunkett+Kuhr, a Park City-based design firm, created a conceptual master plan that will more than triple the museum’s current space. Since Plunkett+Kuhr’s clients have included the Musée du Louvre, the Sundance Film Festival, Wired magazine and Carnegie Hall, expectations are running high for this exciting project!
Your comments may be edited for brevity and foul language.