The vacant Claim Jumper building on Main Street, one of the starkest reminders of the recession’s effects on Park City, will be made into a hotspot during the Sundance Film Festival, with Microsoft search engine Bing preparing to turn part of the building into a place for celebrities and partying.
The makeover will be among the most ambitious of the temporary party spots that pop up in Park City during Sundance. The Bing plans for the Claim Jumper have not been widely publicized, and some of the details were not available at the beginning of the week. Sometimes corporate interests set aside time in rented space for the public to stop by, usually during the day, and hold private events in the evening and nighttime.
The Bing space in the Claim Jumper is especially noteworthy given the high-traffic location of the building and the shuttered state it has been in for years. The historic building had fallen into disrepair, and a bank now controls the Claim Jumper after a developer’s plans to refurbish the property into a hotel were scrapped in the faltering economy.
Corporate interests rent temporary space up and down Main Street during Sundance, seeking the visibility the street offers, but in most cases the building is already in a condition for occupancy. The corporations typically reconfigure and redecorate the rented space. Bing, though, must make the space habitable as well. Sundance runs Jan. 20-30. The 2011 edition of the festival will be the second consecutive one with Bing as an official Sundance sponsor.
Topmark Industries, Inc., which is redoing the insides of part of the Claim Jumper building for Bing, said the first and second stories will be used during Sundance. Mark Pappas, who is with Topmark Industries, Inc., said the first floor will be turned into a temporary bar, and there will be space for journalists to interview celebrities as well as a catering operation. Temporary lights and a heating system for the Bing space will be put in, he said.
“We’re putting it together pretty nicely. You’ll be surprised when you walk in there,” Pappas said, expecting the first floor will have an “old-worldly appearance.”
City Hall has issued two permits for the Bing space at the Claim Jumper, one for the first floor and one for the second floor. Michelle Downard, who coordinates plan checks in the Building Department, said there has not been an application filed to use the third floor. Downard said the first floor will be designed to have an open floor plan for Bing. She said the permit allows the workers to put in Sheetrock, a kitchen where food will be kept warm and restrooms.
The Claim Jumper is one of Park City’s grand historic buildings, but it was closed and fell into disrepair in the last decade. A business entity tied to the bank that was the lender on the Claim Jumper took control of the building in a trustee’s sale in late 2009 after another firm defaulted on the loan. There has only been marginal progress in restoring the building since then, and it remains on the market.