The decision by the Sundance Film Festival to relocate to Boulder, Colorado, may be attributed to myriad factors, including false flags such as Utah’s political persuasion. But at the end of the day, Park City dropped the ball (an appropriate March Madness metaphor) despite claiming to do all that could have been done to keep the festival here.Recall that in 2017 a memorandum of understanding was signed and widely supported by the then Mayor Jack Thomas and the City Council in which 5+ acres of land off Kearns Boulevard was earmarked as the Arts and Cultural District, with Sundance and the Kimball Art Center as anchor tenants.  The hope was that the Arts and Cultural District would add a reach texture to the fabric of our community and help diversify opportunities and experiences beyond our sports-oriented town for residents and visitors alike. With an ideal location near schools and connected by bike and walking trails to Old Town, the Arts and Cultural District was expected to be a “community living room” offering programming inspired by the Kimball Arts Center’s shows and Sundance films. Specialized retail and restaurants were expected to add to the vibrancy of the district and to help build pedestrian foot traffic.The subsequent eight years since the memorandum was signed were frittered away by endless debates concerning the use of this small parcel, including the potential to include a transit center and affordable housing. While both initiatives have merit, the competition for limited real estate has resulted in paralysis.  In the interim, a transient tax to fund the Arts and Cultural District was imposed on visitors, although it appears that much of the revenue from this tax has been redirected. The Sundance folks were initially an enthusiastic partner for the district. A spectacular building, designed by a world-renowned architectural firm, included plans for headquarters for Sundance’s Park City staff, a museum and a theater that could have gone a long way in building pedestrian traffic, particularly by showing films in the evening.  Unfortunately, Park City’s inability to move forward with a sense of urgency and conviction scuttled progress as demonstrated by a perennial pile of dirt and the lack of a clear go-forward plan. It would not take a leap of intuitiveness to conclude that Sundance’s decision to relocate its festival would have been more difficult had the Arts and Cultural District moved forward as envisioned.  To paraphrase Machiavelli, the Boulder, Colorado, community won the rights to host the Sundance Film Festival because its youthful enthusiasm is braver, fiercer and handles uncertainty with more audacity.  But any retrospective recrimination about Sundance’s decision needs to acknowledge that Park City lost the festival more than it was won by Boulder.   Dan LemaitrePark CityThe post Ours to lose appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less