Sundance Film Festival crowds someday could pass the time until their next screening on a plaza outside the Marsac Building, just a block off Main Street.They may also have additional places to stay in the Main Street core.And perhaps those staying in Deer Valley could eventually board a gondola to move between their lodging and Main Street.As Park City continues to discuss the potential of wide-ranging improvements to public spaces along Main Street and nearby ground, some of the upgrades, it seems, would ultimately have starring roles during the Sundance Film Festival.There has been little mention of Sundance during the talks about the future of Main Street, but many of the various improvements that have been mentioned over the months of work would almost certainly be incorporated into the framework of the festival should it remain in Utah on a long-term basis after the 2026 event.The Main Street Area Plan is designed to ensure the commercial core remains competitive amid the development of outlying districts that have the potential to siphon away sales. The businesses on Main Street want to guard against a drop in receipts, while City Hall wants sales-tax numbers to continue to be robust.Mayor Nann Worel and the Park City Council in December delayed a decision regarding the Main Street Area Plan after hearing disparate testimony from supporters who see the improvements as being a boost for Main Street and critics worried about dramatic alterations to the historic fabric of the street.The elected officials are expected to return to the discussions shortly. If they support the Main Street Area Plan as a concept, there would be more rounds of discussions about the individual projects envisioned in the plan before any of them would proceed. City Hall itself could pursue some of the ideas, but others would involve the private sector. There would be approval processes if any of the concepts are formalized and then brought to the municipal government as an application.Main Street is a central location during Sundance, drawing crowds from early in the morning to the overnight hours. The Egyptian Theatre is a longtime screening room, the Filmmaker Lodge is along Main Street, and the festival’s main box office is a block off Main Street. Numerous temporary corporate locations also occupy space in the Main Street core during Sundance.The Main Street Area Plan could take nearly a decade to complete, with a conceptual timeline presented in 2024 pointing to the possibility of the work finishing in the months before the 2034 Winter Olympics are slated to open.Some of the ideas presented during the talks about the Main Street Area Plan that would likely be of consequence to Sundance should the projects be pursued:Lodging options: The idea of developing additional hotels has been discussed as part of the Main Street Area Plan talks. A rough sketch that was crafted during the efforts showed what was described as a boutique hotel on the northern end of Swede Alley and another hotel south of there. Sundance is typically one of the strongest stretches of the year for the lodging industry, with some of the top occupancy levels and room rates annually. Developing lodging so close to Main Street, as contemplated, would add rooms in the Old Town core. There are currently limited hotel options in the area of Main Street, meaning many Sundance visitors stay elsewhere in the Park City area. It is likely any new lodging options would immediately become sought after during Sundance since they would be so convenient to the official festival venues in the area of Main Street, the rest of the hubbub and the Old Town transit center. A gondola: Aerial transit via gondola routes has been discussed in Park City on and off since at least the 1990s, and the topic has been raised again in the work regarding Main Street. There has been talk of a gondola route linking the Main Street core with Deer Valley, something that would be designed to be a traffic-fighting measure. Precise routes are not known, but the idea, if it were to advance, could attempt to link the Main Street core with a potential gondola system that could someday serve Deer Valley’s base areas. A gondola route connecting the Main Street area with locations in Deer Valley could prove to be advantageous during Sundance with there being so many lodging options there. The traffic during the festival is usually some of the densest of the year and leads to regular backups in the area of Main Street. Parking close to Main Street is also difficult during Sundance with a scarcity of public spaces and higher prices often charged in locations that are available. A gondola route would not eliminate the traffic between Deer Valley and Main Street during Sundance, but any reduction would be welcomed. A central square on Main Street and a nearby City Hall plaza along Swede Alley: The concept for a central square involves land toward the middle of Main Street. A City Hall plaza could be constructed between Swede Alley and the Marsac Building. The two potential projects, taken together, could effectively create a public space reaching from Main Street to the base of the Marsac Building. It is a prime location for Sundance with a variety of festival venues in close proximity to the ground. There would be ample room for any number of activities during Sundance in that sort of space. Official festival sponsors could use the location for some of their temporary installations, concerts could be staged there or there could be other types of gatherings like a bonfire resembling the one that marked the beginning of the final days of the festival in 2020.Bob Wells Plaza on Thursday, the first day of Sundance Film Festival 2025. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordThe post Analysis: Park City concepts for Main Street, like a gondola and lodging, could star during Sundance appeared first on Park Record.