Community Block

The Community Block is Vernal's redevelopment of the Lamplighter site, where the city is clearing the old motel and the historic Lamplighter Hotel. Tenants have been told to leave the hotel by the end of November; the previous owners then have 30 days to salvage furnishings, asbestos abatement is expected to start in January, and demolition is tentatively set for March or April. The city has hired the architecture firm MHTN to design Phase 1 and prepare it for bidding. Phase 1's key feature is an adventure playground built around a large custom dinosaur structure. For the Oct. 21 meeting MHTN was scheduled to show its latest plans, which the city manager's memo called adjustable but solidifying, and the council was asked to pick the playground's design/build vendor from three providers staff and MHTN interviewed, a selection based on qualifications rather than price. The memo says the city plans to bid Phase 1 "this spring" and build in the summer; written in October, that can only mean 2027. Soil drilling and testing were under way on the site in early October, and the city's $4 million application to the federal Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program had advanced from the state to national review, with property acquisition costs potentially counting toward the city's required match. No vendor, design price or construction budget appears in the packet, and the council's Oct. 21 action is not yet in a posted record.