Longtime Ketchum residents joined together, pitching in time, money and labor, to realize a vision of a beautified downtown.
These residents remember their effort—a project they started a quarter century ago, and was soon largely forgotten.
Ketchum resident Royce Milaskey resurrected the Harriman Square idea, at the intersection of Fourth Street and Leadville Avenue, as the city is working on a larger-scale downtown master plan.
"Completing this project will act as an impetus to fulfill the council's larger vision of a vital and viable downtown," Milaskey wrote in a letter to the council before making a presentation to them Monday.
"As it turned out, people didn't come through 100 percent, but the city came through 100 percent," he told the council. "After it was built, it died. It would be nice to dovetail this with the interim town plaza, to refurbish this square to its original intent."
Jerry Seiffert, former mayor of Ketchum, agreed that the project never came to fruition.
"It wasn't up to the city to do it," he said Tuesday. "The city was under no obligation to get things done. Because of the controversy over some of the symbols used, when (the artists) were unable to complete their side of the deal the City Council decided not to do anything further with it."
Controversy erupted from some citizens over a plan to put zodiac symbols in the sundial.
Seiffert said once work stalled, he directed the streets department to finish paving over the street to make it usable again.
The current City Council embraced in concept the overall idea, but said it should be one of many ideas woven into the downtown master plan, currently underway.
"I'm a little reluctant to move forward with details," said Planning Director Harold Moniz. "We're going to want to involve the community (in that)."
