Some of Utah’s best amateur boxing talent will return to Park City Saturday night for Rise Boxing’s second Mountain Mettle event.

There, Rise will hold 20 amateur fights for both the Rocky Mountain chapter of the Parkinson’s Foundation and the gym’s youth scholarship program. The two charities will split all funds raised. 

The evening’s first fight will begin at 6 p.m. after the doors open at 5 p.m. The main event is expected to commence around 8 p.m.

“We’re really excited this year,” said planning committee member Jodi Atkinson. “We have seven people right now representing the gym, of all ages.”

Rise is in Summit Park and offers boxing, MMA and other martial arts classes. Most of their classes are low-contact. Pro boxer Maryguenn Vellinga founded the gym. 

Vellinga founded the gym to help out nonprofits through boxing. She leads classes for those with Parkinsons, who benefit from the sport’s movement patterns. 

Rise has over 30 people involved in its Parkinson’s classes. The classes run from 11 a.m. to noon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 

Rise has allotted 90 scholarships to kids this year to help them cover training and fighting costs. 

“Ironic, isn’t it? Because, when you think of Muhammad Ali, and you know what he’s been through, it (boxing) most likely led to Parkinson’s,” added Atkinson. “There is a lot of study into how that (classes) helps them retain basic movement during the course of the day, the week, the year.”

Rise is considering putting on further, similar fundraising events in the future. Their fundraising goal Saturday is $25,000.

Tickets will cost $20 for adults and $10 for kids and can be purchased online or at the event, for the same prices. Donations are also welcome with ticket purchases. 

All of the 20 fights will be USA Boxing sanctioned and lasting of three, one-minute rounds. All fighters, regardless of age or gender, will be wearing protective headgear. 

“The Rise community is such a great community that are all there for the same reason,” said Atkinson. “Hopefully we’re gonna get great weather, and it’ll be something people don’t see every day, especially in Park City.”

The post Park City boxing gym will host charity event Saturday night appeared first on Park Record.

Mayor Nann Worel and the Park City Council on Thursday evening received unscheduled input in support of a developer’s plan to demolish a standard-bearer hotel and rebuild at the high-profile location.

Tracy Harden, a Park City resident, spoke to the elected officials about the entitlement process that continues to unfold with Chicago-based Singerman Real Estate locked in talks with the Park City Planning Commission.

Harden is a marketing and communications consultant who has performed contract work for Singerman Real Estate regarding the project. Her comments were on behalf of herself, though, and the developer did not have prior knowledge of her plans to address the elected officials.

Singerman Real Estate wants to tear down The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Park City – The Yarrow at the corner of Park Avenue and Kearns Boulevard and then rebuild.

The Singerman Real Estate concept for the land involves:

• 174 condominium-hotel units
• 60 units of restricted affordable housing
• 5,935 square feet of restaurants or bars
• 2,543 square feet of retail space
• 6,500 square feet of office space

The firm is seeking an exception to the City Hall rules regulating building height at the location. The Planning Commission in late August delayed a key decision regarding whether to grant an exception the height restrictions. That decision will be crucial since the design hinges on whether an exception is granted. The panel addressed issues like whether the project provides an adequate amount of open space and landscaping. The Planning Commission is slated to return to the discussions at a meeting scheduled on Wednesday.

Harden spoke about the importance of the location to the future of the wider Bonanza Park district and described what she sees as “the lack of progress in the redevelopment of the Yarrow hotel.” 

“In last Wednesday’s Planning Commission meeting, the design and the development team was essentially sent back to the drawing board again. They are on Plan ‘D’ or ‘E.’ The team is not incompetent. They do not lack knowledge, skill or experience in the Park City planning process,” she said.

She supported the development team and Singerman Real Estate, noting the involvement of Peter Tomai, a Park City-based development partner with Singerman Real Estate, and longtime Park City architect Craig Elliott.

“Despite this knowledge, this combination of knowledge and commitment, they are still going around in circles with planning. Planning is focused on code. The development team is taking code into consideration as well as view corridors, sun exposure on sidewalks, the frontage protection zone and, importantly, a design that functions,” she said.

“It’s exasperating to witness the time and money both from the city and the development team after two and a half years,” she added.

She also requested the elected officials become involved in the talks with the location being so visible.

“Tonight I’m asking you, our city leadership, to step forward and bring the development team and planning together for a big picture design discussion that sets a united vision for this corner. If we see the corner as a gateway to Park City, let’s bring our best and brightest to the table. It needs leadership. It needs collaboration. And it needs compromise,” she said.

Harden also praised the Chicago firm itself.

“Singerman Real Estate has put an incredible amount of effort into creating something that will benefit our community. And if we lose their passion, we all lose out. Please get involved,” she told the mayor and City Council.

The elected officials did not respond to the comments. The mayor and City Council typically decline to engage speakers at the point in a meeting when Harden delivered her comments.

The post Park City hotel project ‘still going around in circles’ appeared first on Park Record.

Park City leaders on Thursday evening delayed a decision on whether to adopt an election system for municipal contests known as ranked choice voting.

The elected officials indicated they want to wait for the results of a Utah Valley University study about the impacts of ranked choice voting.

Mayor Nann Worel and the Park City Council expect to return to the issue once the results are released, which City Hall anticipates within several months.

One of the topics the elected officials discussed on Thursday centered on the lack of a primary election under ranked choice voting. Park City holds primary elections if there are more than two candidates for the mayor’s office and more than four or six candidates for the City Council, depending on the number of City Council seats on a ballot.

Primary elections extend the campaign timeline and typically require candidate fundraising and spending during the primary season and then again before Election Day in November.

City Councilor Tana Toly was one of the elected officials who mentioned the costs of Park City elections. She also said the City Council could accomplish more during an election year if there was not a primary election as she described her support of ranked choice voting.

Another member of the City Council, Ed Parigian, worried about adopting ranked choice voting with the possibility the method is not allowed in the state on a long-term basis.

Ranked choice voting involves voters ranking the candidates in the order of their preference. If a candidate receives greater than 50% of the first-place votes, they win the seat. Should none of the candidates receive greater than 50%, the person who finished last in first-place votes is dropped and the second-place votes on that candidate’s ballots are redistributed to the remaining contenders, effectively as first-place votes. The process continues until a candidate tops 50%. Another round is conducted to determine a second-place winner in an election with more than one seat on the ballot.

Ranked choice voting eliminates the need to hold primary elections.

The method is allowed in Utah municipalities under a pilot program.

One of the candidates in the Summit County Council election this year, Democrat Megan McKenna, provided input to the mayor and City Council in support of ranked choice voting. She described the method as more democratic and resulting in a representative voice.

Park City could opt for ranked choice voting in the 2025 municipal election, when the mayor’s office and two City Council seats are on the ballot. A decision is not required for months, meaning the elected officials have time to research the voting method.

The municipal government earlier collected a wide range of opinions about ranked choice voting from Parkites and people who live elsewhere. The anonymous comments included statements favoring the voting method and opposing ranked choice voting. Arguments in favor included the potential of moderate candidates emerging as winners while those in opposition mentioned, as an example, the introduction of complexities into voting. 

The post Park City delays decision about ranked choice voting appeared first on Park Record.

“A dream come true,” said Parkite Grant Fisher on his Olympic experience. 

The 27-year-old moved to town about a year ago looking to boost his odds at an Olympic podium. It worked, twice, as Fisher went on to make running history, becoming the first U.S. man to double-podium the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races at an Olympic Games. 

Paris was Fisher’s second Games — he also ran two events in Tokyo, and having finished both off-podium in the largely empty Japan National Stadium, it’s safe to say Fisher had a much better time in Paris at the Stade de France. 

“When you’re a kid in running, the Olympics is the biggest thing,” said Fisher. “Just to make it to the Olympics was a big dream of mine, and then leading into this year my only goal was to get on the Olympic podium.”

Fisher was surrounded the entire Paris Games by loving friends and family that made the trip. 

Reflecting on his performance, Fisher said he was able to relax and run with freedom after his first bronze medal Aug. 2 in the 10k. His body was on its last legs however. 

In both of Fisher’s races, he climbed from behind to earn his bronze medals in near-photo finishes. He admitted his plan in the 10k was to lead the whole time, and in the 5k that simply wasn’t possible, despite a slower race pace. 

Fisher detailed how he trains to have the confidence to break through the mental wall that tells him to stop, common amongst distance runners. He said if you’re not going to leave it all out on the Olympic track, when are you. 

“You know it’s going to hurt, there’s no way around it,” said Fisher. “You can’t envision being in the Olympic final and feeling incredible with 400 meters to go, it’s just not realistic. … There have been hundreds of times before where my body is screaming at me to stop and my mind is telling me you have nothing left, but each time you overcome that and push through, it’s a little easier.”

Fisher had a successful Olympic lead up featuring the U.S. Trials double-golds, however his whole year rode on the Aug. 2 and 10 finals. He said he was thrilled everything came together and he didn’t have any fluke illnesses or injuries. 

Fisher continued his season Aug. 25 at the Silesia Diamond League (the top international track league) event in Chorzów, Poland, with a 3k race. He finished in 15th place, immediately knowing it was time to shut it down for the season and return to home base in Park City.

The distance running season typically runs from February through September every year. 

Fisher will begin his 2025 base training now, with specific race preparations beginning in the new year. Fisher said he loves the tracks and trails of Park City and the neighboring areas, however may pop down to Arizona as he’s done before if things get too cold and snowy. 

On Fisher’s mind the most is the 2025 World Athletics Championships back at the Japan National Stadium in September. While Fisher wants to partake in the 2028 Los Angeles Games close to home, he admits the 2025 Championships could be his last big event on the track. 

The majority of track’s distance runners end up pivoting to the marathon and road running after their mid-20’s.

Fisher said he may try out a road race in the next year, but until Tokyo he’ll remain committed to the track. 

Already Fisher has been contacted by Grand Slam Track, a new league founded by sprinting legend Michael Johnson, looking to gather all the world’s top track stars for four big events starting next year. He sang high praises for the organization, which wouldn’t take him out of his regular Diamond League schedule. 

Fisher’s love for Park City may be contagious, and he jokes he may be inviting too many others to move to town. He currently trains at some of the Olympic winter sport centers and tracks nearby and along the Historic Union Pacific Rail Trail. 

Fisher said Parkites may spot him out on the Rail Trail, and offered some tips for those running up here in the altitude: prioritize consistency over intensity every time and don’t push yourself over the edge because the altitude will get to you. He said he hopes Parkites are enjoying the variety of running locales, almost all with fantastic scenery. 

As for lifelong memories from Paris, Fisher said his favorites will be meeting all kinds of new athletes in the village, and going out clubbing with his friends and family after the 5k finish. He wasn’t able to do much socially with Tokyo 2020’s COVID restrictions. 

“The village is such a cool melting pot of athletes from every country in the world, speaking all these different languages,” said Fisher. “We all have this mutual respect for each other because everyone knows how hard it is to get there.”

He goes on, remembering: “After the 5k, I had a great group of friends and family there and we went out and went to this club. It was hilarious seeing my parents in a club and dancing. They were playing house music, it was very European style, and we just stayed there and danced at the nightclub in Paris until the early hours of the morning.”

Addressing the living conditions in the village, Fisher said he had a great time, the food was good, the U.S.’ AC units helped, however he wouldn’t necessarily rave about the infamous chocolate muffins seen on social media. He said they were good, but he thinks everyone becomes a bit obsessed with what goes on in the village. 

Fisher has been watching the U.S. Paralympians, who are in Paris through Sunday, while getting back into his training. Like so many other athletes in the area, he said they welcomed him as a transplant with fully open arms last fall. 

The post Parkite Grant Fisher returns home after the Paris Olympics appeared first on Park Record.

The possibility of someday creating an aerial transit system in Park City, long seen as a measure that could combat traffic, has emerged as part of City Hall-led discussions about the future of the Main Street core.

A committee seated by Park City leaders is considering wide-ranging concepts that, if pursued, would be designed to enhance Main Street as it attempts to remain competitive amid commercial development elsewhere in the area.

One of the ideas that has been mentioned is the construction of a gondola route. Aerial transit via a gondola system has been discussed off and on in Park City since at least the 1990s, but the concept has never advanced beyond preliminary talks or studies. There have been questions over the years about the funding mechanisms for construction, operations and maintenance as well as potential destinations and routes.

A group known as the Main Street Area Plan Committee in mid-August discussed a gondola route between the Main Street core and Deer Valley. The notes from the meeting in August and a City Hall staff communications report provided limited details about the concept. There is an interest in Main Street businesses better tapping customers in Deer Valley, though.

The staff communications report indicated there was interest in “exploring” the possibility of a gondola linking Deer Valley with the southern reaches of the Main Street commercial district. The separate written summary of the August meeting showed the Main Street Area Plan Committee received information about prior work regarding aerial transit and spoke about alternative alignments.

The written summary says earlier “transportation projects had rejected the idea of building a gondola from Park City to Deer Valley” via the Deer Valley Drive corridor based on “a lack of space in the right-of-way.”

“The committee wondered whether it might be possible to connect to Deer Valley via a different route over Royal Street and city-owned greenspace,” the summary says. “This would help high-value customers travel from Deer Valley to Main Street, and could connect with the new Gondola to Deer Valley East Village.” It also describes a “potential to build a gondola from the Sandridge parking lots to Deer Valley over green space and Royal Street, including a concept for how to connect the station to Main Street.”

The summary seems to describe an eventual vision for a gondola system that could carry people between the Main Street core, through Deer Valley and to Deer Valley East Village off U.S. 40 in Wasatch County. Deer Valley East Village is under development and is designed to be another base for the resort.

Deer Valley Resort has said it is crafting blueprints for internal routes that would effectively connect Snow Park, Silver Lake Village and Deer Valley East Village via a gondola system. The design of the system, Deer Valley said earlier in 2024, leaves open the possibility of becoming a stop on a broader gondola network, if it were to be built someday.

A gondola route linking Deer Valley with Main Street has been seen as a likely segment of any wider system since they are two of the most important destinations in the community. Other possibilities that have been mentioned as stops over the years include the Park City-side of Park City Mountain and City Hall-owned land off the intersection of Kearns Boulevard and Bonanza Drive that could eventually become important to the overall transportation system.

It would be years before the first segments of an aerial transit system could be built outside the confines of private property like the mountain resorts. Further studies would be required into routes, decisions would need to be made about equipment and agreements between various parties would need to be negotiated. City Hall, the County Courthouse, the Utah Department of Transportation and the two mountain resorts would each likely have a role, depending on the precise routes.

Some see aerial transit via a gondola system as a transportation improvement that could reduce traffic in the Park City area. The thinking holds that drivers could be intercepted via parking lots or garages well outside Main Street and the mountain resorts. They would then board an aerial transit system to travel to those destinations, cutting some of the traffic into and out of Park City.

There would also be funding questions with the likelihood of an aerial transit system linking the various locations pushing into the tens of millions of dollars. Although timelines regarding any talks about aerial transit are not known, Park City and Summit County leaders have shown an interest in tapping monies, including transportation-related federal funding, that may become available as the area prepares for the 2034 Winter Olympics. If that is the case, leaders could want to make decisions well before the Games to allow time to build any improvements prior to 2034.

The talks about the Main Street core are ongoing and it is not clear when Park City leaders will make decisions about whether to pursue any of the concepts the committee has considered during its work. Discussions involving Park City’s elected officials, the committee, Main Street businesses and rank-and-file Parkites are upcoming, with a schedule running through December.

The post Park City talks about Main Street note possibility of gondola link to Deer Valley appeared first on Park Record.

Some in Park City would prefer City Hall alter the municipal election system to ranked choice voting.

Doing so, the supporters say as an example, could result in fringe candidates having less of a chance of winning an office.

But there are others who want the mechanics of Park City elections to remain as they have been, with the top vote-getters winning outright. The critics of ranked choice voting say the system could be confusing, among other arguments.

Park City leaders are considering introducing ranked choice voting in the 2025 City Hall election, when the mayor’s office and two seats on the Park City Council will be on the ballot.

Mayor Nann Worel and the City Council on Thursday are scheduled to discuss the topic and possibly provide direction. A decision whether to opt for ranked choice voting would be made later.

Ranked choice voting is a system that has a voter rank the candidates in the order of their preference. If a candidate receives greater than 50% of the first-place votes, they win the seat. Should none of the candidates receive greater than 50%, the person who finished last in first-place votes is dropped and the second-place votes on that candidate’s ballots are redistributed to the remaining contenders, effectively as first-place votes. The process continues until a candidate tops 50%. Another round is conducted to determine a second-place winner in an election with more than one seat on the ballot.

The voting method eliminates the need to hold primary elections.

Ranked choice voting is allowed in Utah municipalities under a pilot program.

Park City earlier in the year gathered opinions from Parkites and others, but a City Hall report drafted in anticipation of the meeting on Thursday indicated there was “minimal” input. Even so, the engagement efforts resulted in a cache of written comments. City Hall compiled those comments and provided them to the elected officials as part of the materials for the Thursday meeting.

The anonymous comments included those left by people who live in Park City and those from outside the municipal limits. The comments, many of them impassioned, are extraordinarily wide ranging and illustrate the difficulty Park City leaders may encounter in building community consensus if they pursue ranked choice voting for the election in 2025.

Comments expressing support of ranked choice voting included:

• “The voter really needs to focus on why they are choosing a particular candidate and also needs to investigate all candidates to make informed choices.”
• “The candidates must appeal to the middle — to a broader base. It has the potential to break down partisanship.”
• “I can vote more strategically and guarantee that my vote matters even if it doesn’t match the majority of other voters choices.”
• “The higher chance of moderate people being elected and no one’s vote is wasted. It feels like better consensus could be found.”
• “Makes elections less about the fringes and the crazies.”

Some of the comments expressing concern regarding ranked choice voting:

• “Highest vote getter wins. Second highest is second and so on. Stop changing what has worked for years by new ideas that are manipulating elections.”
• “It violates the concept of One Person One Vote. It appears to be a sham of the Constitution.”
• “Complicating voting often results in lower trust and less informed decisions.”
• “Some voters may oppose it because they do not understand how it works.”
• “Confuses and demoralizes voters. Weird, unpredictable outcomes.”

The City Council meeting is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. at the Marsac Building. The elected officials are slated to take public input about the topic. More information about the meeting as well as the materials compiled for the mayor and City Council about ranked choice voting are available on the municipal website, www.parkcity.org. The direct link is: www.parkcity.org/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/39646/15.

The post Park City considers ranked choice voting, drawing impassioned input appeared first on Park Record.

A committee seated by Park City leaders to study the future of the Main Street core wants a concept that would remake Swede Alley to receive further consideration.

A staff communications report drafted by City Hall in anticipation of a Park City Council meeting on Thursday recaps a mid-August gathering of the Main Street Area Plan Committee. The committee was seated to consider possibilities for the shopping, dining and entertainment strip as well as nearby locations that serve supporting roles to Main Street.

The communications report summarizes the committee work to date and outlines the wishes of the majority. The recap addresses what would be an ambitious revamping of Swede Alley. The elements include:

• Two hotels that would have underground garages.
• An “updated” transit center.
• A grocery store designed for the community.
• A “local liquor store.”
• A post office.
• A space described as a “central town square.”
• Gathering spaces for the community.

The communications report also says the majority wants further consideration of workforce housing on the land where the Sandridge parking lots are located just off Marsac Avenue and close to Main Street.

Much of the information about Swede Alley appears to draw from a recent report issued by a consultant working with the municipal government on concepts for the Main Street core.

Swede Alley nowadays generally serves more utilitarian purposes supporting Main Street. Much of the parking in the Main Street core is along Swede Alley itself and in the China Bridge garages along that road. The bus rider entrance and exit to the Old Town transit center is also on Swede Alley.

The additions of hotels and a grocery store would be dramatic changes to Swede Alley. They could ultimately be seen, though, as boosting Main Street itself by attracting more people to stay in the commercial core rather than opting for lodging elsewhere.

A housing project for the workforce on the land where the Sandridge parking lots are located, meanwhile, would likely be heavily scrutinized in tightly packed Old Town. The planning process for a development at the Sandridge location would address difficult topics like the traffic a housing project would generate and the design of the buildings.

The Main Street efforts are continuing amid increased competition in the Park City area, including at Kimball Junction and in Wasatch County. There is concern the other commercial options could siphon business from Main Street. That sort of scenario could impact City Hall sales-tax collections in addition to the sales numbers at the individual businesses along Main Street.

It is not clear to what extent Mayor Nann Worel and the members of the City Council may discuss the information about the Main Street core on Thursday.

The City Council meeting is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. at the Marsac Building. More information about the meeting and online attendance is available on the municipal website, www.parkcity.org. The direct link to the meeting information is: https://parkcity.org/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/39646/15.

The post Park City continues to talk of revamping Swede Alley with hotels, grocery store appeared first on Park Record.

The post Motor through Miners Day appeared first on Park Record.

The post In Focus: Scenes from Miners Day 2024 appeared first on Park Record.

A waterworks failure occurred along Main Street on Thursday evening and the repairs and cleanup continued on Friday.

Evidence of the failure remained visible on Friday morning and there was heavy machinery on the 300 block of the street. The machinery by 8:30 a.m. on Friday had excavated a rectangular cutout in the middle of Main Street. There was sand and mud in the vicinity of the Egyptian Theatre entrance and a nearby walkway linking Main Street and Swede Alley. It appeared the failure caused damage to brickwork as well. Caution cones had been placed at the location.

Park City officials did not immediately respond to a Park Record request for information about the issue.

Randy Barton, the manager at the Egyptian Theatre, described that a large amount of water flowed out. He estimated the issue started at approximately 6 p.m. on Thursday.

“We had like a little geyser coming up out of the sidewalk,” he said.

Barton said the basement of the Egyptian Theatre and a basement-level restroom flooded. A pedestrian tunnel underneath Main Street used by the Egyptian Theatre also flooded, he said. There was flooding in the breezeway on the north side of the theater building as well, Barton said. There was limited damage to Egyptian Theatre carpets, he said.

Barton estimated the damage to the Egyptian Theatre at possibly $5,000.

Booker T. & the M.G.’s shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are scheduled as planned.

There are occasional waterworks breaks along Main Street. An especially significant one occurred in July of 2019, when a torrent of water rushed onto the street. Authorities closed much of Main Street to traffic. 

The post Park City waterworks failure impacts Main Street appeared first on Park Record.