Ketchum, Idaho: Big Efforts to Bring Outdoor Movie to New Town Square
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Just a couple of weeks ago, town square planners only had a single $100,000 donation in hand. The number of donors has consistently grown since the Ketchum Community Development Corp. revealed the designs.
The CDC's Town Design Teamconsisting of 21 volunteershas been working since October to build a town square for concerts, outdoor movies, farmers' markets and more. It would be an extension of the existing town square near the corner of Fourth Street and East Avenue.
The design has come to include a raised platform for performances, a fountain, fire pit, solar-powered lighting, trees, tables, benches and areas for temporary vendors.
John Hanousek, co-owner of Inovus Solar, the Boise company that designed the light poles, put together a pole for a town-square fundraising event Monday. The square would have six poles.
"The light poles are completely self-sufficient," Hanousek said.
Aesthetically, the city doesn't need to worry about flat solar panels. Hanousek said Inovus has designed a thin-film solar panel that wraps around the top half of the pole and can barely be seen. He said the poles use an array of LED 50-watt lights, and each pole would save the city about $800 a year in electricitythe average energy cost of a normal light pole in Idaho.
He said Invus' poles cost between $6,500 to $7,500. Design team leader Dale Bates said a normal light pole costs $5,000 without wiring.
Flower said no definite donations were made at Monday's event, but interest was piqued by the demonstration.
"I'm sure we'll see something come out of the night," she said.
Trevon Milliard