The final closure of Anderson Lumber on Kearns Boulevard marks the end of an era in Park City reminiscent of when Art Durante shuttered his hardware store on Main Street in 1984. At a location once considered “out of town,” Anderson Lumber literally built itself into a corner, sandwiched uncomfortably between a cemetery, a housing complex and a church.

The move to an expansive facility along S.R. 248 is probably overdue. Still, local contractors and do-it-yourselfers will miss the cozy stacks of two-by-fours and cedar shingles.

In addition to offering Park City builders nice perks for shopping locally, and providing residents a handy spot to pick up plumbing parts on a freezing winter morning, Anderson Lumber’s successful business added substantial sales tax revenues to the municipal coffers. The floor clerks’ advice and the company’s ongoing contributions to local causes will be missed, but few would argue that both the neighborhood and the business, now operating as Stock Building Supply, are better off going separate ways.

We wish the company well in its new location at the epicenter of the building boom along the road to Kamas and the Jordanelle. However, the lumbering trucks full of trusses won’t be missed on Kearns Boulevard where day-to-day traffic has become a serious problem.

Now, as to the abandoned Anderson Lumber site on Kearns

A few months ago, North of Main Alliance (NOMA) leader Rodman Jordan outlined a plan to incorporate the property into a massive neighborhood redo with upscale boutiques and affordable condos anchored with a transportation hub at the site of the old lumberyard. And with property values and affordable housing at a premium, Rodman’s plan makes sense.

Along with investor Mark Fischer, Jordan has formed an alliance of business and property owners along Kearns Boulevard and Bonanza Drive in hopes of coordinating an effort to redevelop a segment of Park City that, so far, has failed to keep up with the rest of the town.

Now with the lumber company comfortably installed outside of the city limits, NOMA and the city should redouble their efforts to come up with a long rangeplan that will once again draw residents and visitors to the area, albeit with slightly different blueprints in hand.