Parks plans

The City of Sundance is forging ahead one step at a time with plans to bring the downtown area together as an attractive destination for residents and tourists alike. As Old Stoney nears completion, says Clerk Treasurer Kathy Lenz, the city is working towards creating a park that will be both a boon for residents and an eye-catcher for travelers along the highway.

Lenz is in the process of attempting to net two grants that will fund this new Central Park, so named for the Central Office building that once stood on the plot. Last week, she visited the Wyoming Business Council in Cheyenne to discuss the first of those two grants prior to the board's decision on whether to recommend the project.

"They usually come up and do a site visit, but they are so familiar with this project and they had a lack of time," she says. "It was an interview with the staff to go over it and read between the cracks of the application and it gives them the opportunity to clarify what I had put in the application and if they had questions about anything."

Board member Mike Easley and board president Megan Goetz were also present by telephone, she says, and the group as a whole had mainly minor issues with the application – but one potentially large one.

"The one sticking point, and I understand their point, is that they kind of want to tie it to Old Stoney," she says, referring to the fact that the city applied on behalf of the museum district for the funds to refurbish the old building and then for additional funds to fill the gap between what had been granted and what was ultimately needed.

"To them, it's a three-time ask. That's going to be a hurdle, for sure."

But that's ok, Lenz says, it's a surmountable issue because it doesn't lessen the importance of the new park in attracting more tourism to town.

"I believe it is imperative that that park is developed so that it will stop people, so that Old Stoney and the museum will be successful," she says.

"I believe we really have to move quickly on that and that the longer it doesn't happen, the harder it will be on the museum to bring people in so that we can get them into there and then into the businesses."

The ultimate goal of the park in terms of boosting the success of local businesses, she explains, is to make those potential visitors slow down and decide to stop.

"Once we stop them – and that's the key, to get them to linger – they're going to eat and they're going to shop and they might stay overnight," she says.

Downtowns are important, she says. When they are lost, it crushes a community's connectivity.

An attractive park as an eye-catcher is a proven idea in Wyoming, she adds. Recently, she spent a day with the director of David Street Station in Casper.

"Their downtown was dying and they developed this beautiful park with an ice skating rink and a splashpad and a stage, it's just amazing," she says. "Over 500,000 people attended it in the first year and they've lost count of how many businesses have come in and moved to that area."

The Wyoming Business Council meets in Riverton on May 16 to make a final decision. On the same day, the State Parks board responsible for Land and Water Conservation Fund grants in Wyoming will be meeting to make a decision on the second grant the city has applied for to fund the new park.

"We split it in thirds: one third for the Land and Water Conservation, one third for WBC and one third for the city," she says.

Each of those thirds represents around $300,000, bringing the project to an estimated total of $900,000.

"If it doesn't work out, we will have to stage it," she says.

Though the city would prefer to complete all aspects at once, it may become necessary to downscale the plans if the total funding cannot be obtained. This will involve re-envisioning the plans.

The plan for the park includes a stage, entrance area, bathrooms, a play area for kids and a grassy area for relaxation. It also includes a historic walk, Lenz says, to which the museum will be contributing with such items as wagons and carriages.

"Our goal is to have signage that will talk about different things that happened in the area," she says.

City purchases meat locker plot

The final piece of the puzzle, says Lenz, is the Placemaking Grant for $1000 that the city was awarded last month. The grant is for $1000 and enters the city into a contest to win a further $10,000.

To qualify, the money must be used to create a gathering place and the city must keep records of how successful their efforts turn out to be.

"We will start developing a little area for people to start to gather," she says.

This planned "parklet" is an Astroturf surface that will house chairs and a picnic table, games such as horseshoes and accessories. It will be placed on the lot on the corner of Main Street where the North Pole Meat Locker once stood.

That lot is now owned by the city due to an agreement with the landowner in which the council agreed to bear the $16,000 cost to place debris from knocking down the building in the landfill. In return, the city asked for reassurance that the plot would be used to build a new veterans' hall within a certain timeframe.

If the building did not materialize, the owner would need to cover the $16,000 cost. As the veterans' hall had not been built before the deadline earlier this year, Lenz says, the council opted following an executive session to spend an additional $25,000 to purchase the land outright.

"The city did purchase that, but we definitely still would work with [the veterans], if they were still interested," she says.

There are five participants in the challenge to win the $10,000, which will be used to develop a more permanent attraction. The Astroturf version could still be used though, Lenz grins – it can be transported to any location in town and laid out to provide people with a place to sit and relax.

Central Park is meanwhile not something can be completed this year, but residents will still be able to enjoy it, Lenz says.

"It will be green this year – we will have green grass," she says. "We hope maybe farmers' markets will be there and to have some activities on it."

The project itself could begin as early as fall, or may need to wait until spring, depending on the funding.