Park City Gardens grows

The 2,448-square foot greenhouse will be open year-round so locals won't need to trek all the way to Salt Lake City. Photo: (TownLift // Meredith Kluever).

PARK CITY, Utah. – More than green shoots are starting to pop up around town as a warm spring unfolds. Park City Gardens, located on State Road 224, is busy with a big expansion that will give customers (and the locals who often just hang out there) a new large greenhouse, a café and coffee shop, and an open garden area. Work is expected to be completed by June.

SAPP Development Group is the builder; a historic building on-site is being refurbished to house the new café.

“We got a historic permit to turn a little dilapidated shed that happened to be the first general store in Park City from the 1890s called the Pace Archibald store [into a coffee shop],” said Sophy Kohler, who has co-owned the local nursery with her husband Greg Kohler for almost six years.

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The building was used partially as storage by employees. Now, it’s in the process of becoming a structurally safe, restored park of Park City’s history.

“People don’t really know the history of a lot of these old buildings in Park City unless they’re told, right? Some we know about, but a lot of them, they are just kind of there, so nobody really knew,” said Kohler. “This building was significant, so we just thought, ‘how cool would that be to turn it into that?’”

The nursery can be considered historic in its own right, as it’s been in operation for almost 40 years. In 2016, original owners Steve and Ann Barret sold the nursery to the Kohlers after operating the business for over 30 years.

The garden area is currently being cultivated on a few extra acres of land within the property. On display will be a high-altitude zone garden to show locals what plants and flowers do well in the Park City environment.

“It’s where we have the haunted forest and summer garden dinners in the meadow, and we’re just going to keep expanding,” said Kohler. “In that back area, you can walk along the stream; we’ve got benches and places to sit so you can grab your coffee or your drink. You can go hang out.”

The 2,448 square foot greenhouse will hold plants, herbs, flowers, and larger houseplants year-round.

“What we’ve wanted is an efficient greenhouse where we can have plants year-round so people can come, and they can get herbs in March, and they don’t have to wait for May. And if they have their own greenhouse and want to get like seeds and equipment, we’ll have all that too.”

The Kohlers changed the name from Park City Nursery in January 2020.

“We just felt like we’re more than a nursery,” she said.

When construction is all said and done, the premises will have the greenhouse, café, and gardens in addition to the already existing boutique, nursery, and flower barn. The flower barn, boutique, and greenhouse will be open year-round, while the nursery will continue to be closed from Christmas to April.

While the café and greenhouse need more time to complete construction, Kohler hopes to open both by the end of May. The nursery and bulk yard will open on April 12^th.