SANDY — Unless parking problems at the South Towne Expo Center are resolved soon, the more popular events there may have to restrict attendance or find a new home.
While Expo managers and city officials have taken steps to address myriad parking and safety concerns during large-scale exhibitions, some City Council members feel that those solutions have not helped enough. Because of those continued problems, at least two members have publicly supported the idea of limiting or even prohibiting such events as the recent Outdoor Expo or the Home & Garden Show until the only real solution — a parking terrace — is built.
"After this year, we should not allow these large exhibitions until something is done," Councilman Scott Cowdell said.
Cowdell's suggestion came after the council saw pictures of people crossing State Street to reach the Expo Center, including families pulling children in red wagons or carrying babies on their shoulders. Many of the people had parked in nearby empty lots, in residential neighborhoods or in front of businesses.
Although many of the parking problems have been associated with an unexpected jump in business at many of these events, Cowdell said that many of the problems could have been avoided if the city had known what to expect.
"When this thing came to us it was billed as the overflow for some of the (Salt Palace's) smaller events," he said. "These are not the small events, they are the premier events."
Specifically, the council could have required that Salt Lake County build a parking terrace to accommodate the traffic, instead of throwing together patchwork solutions, such as the shuttle service from South Towne Mall. Regardless, Cowdell said a parking terrace would be about the only solution that would cause him to support the large exhibitions.
"I don't care how they do it, even if they have to close for two years," he said. "There are no alternatives."
Expo Center managers have started to look at a number of options, including a terrace, tearing out landscaping to create additional spots, or purchasing more land for another lot, said Allyson Jackson, the director of marketing sales for SMG, the management company. The Expo Center currently has about 1,650 spots available.
While the parking has caused a problem, Jackson said the Expo Center has had immediate positive impacts on Sandy, especially for local businesses. The Outdoor Expo had more than 33,000 tickets sold, Jackson said, and many of those people not only went to the exhibition, they ate at Jordan Commons and shopped at the South Towne Mall.
The Expo Center was designed for consumer shows, especially those with a strong local interest, Jackson said. Without the Expo Center, she doubts that the events would have a home in 2002, since the Salt Palace will be tied up as the media center for the Olympics. Regardless, she doubts that the shows would be willing to move, especially after the amazing first-year success at the Expo Center.
"The consumers don't want to move, they love it there," she said. "I don't even want to consider that possibility."
The only other council member to publicly agree with Cowdell was John Winder, although at least two other members worried about the safety of the people crossing State Street.
"This is not a problem that has an easy solution," Councilman Dennis Tenney said. "We need to continue to look at this from all sides. We need to be reasonable, but public safety needs to be number one."
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