STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

More Christmas decorations are going up in Ketchum and local grocers might need to consider ordering extra groceries for the World Cup Finals in March 2025.

Those were some of the takeaways of the monthly Coffee Talk held this past week at Hotel Ketchum.

Ketchum Town Square was the first order of business, with the City of Ketchum holding an open house to gather feedback from the community on how to refresh the community square. The open house will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9, at the Town Square across from Atkinsons’ Market. Refreshments will be served.

Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw said there won’t be massive changes but there are some things that need to be fixed, including the non-functioning water feature, firepit and Leroy’s ice cream shack. The City is also exploring better ways of shading the area, as well as options for bringing Starbucks out into the outdoors.

The ribbon cutting for Ketchum Town Square was held in 2010, turning a parking lot into a community gathering place for activities ranging from outdoor concerts to the Trailing of the Sheep Festival’s Closing Party.

Six hundred people took a survey asking about uses for Ketchum’s Forest Service Park. The part will look much the same but with improvements, said Bradshaw.

Respondents advocated for keeping the Wood River Farmers Market and Ketch’em Alive concerts in the park. Both have tried other locations but people didn’t like those locations, as well.

There’s support for a museum in the park, as well as art and other events.

City Administrator Jade Riley is trying to land a half-million grant to help restore the flood plain at Warm Springs Preserve, build an ADA accessible path there, install efficient irrigation and construct bathrooms and improved parking.

Bradshaw said that some people have encouraged city not to spend money on the World Cup Finals in mid-March. What the City does is provide services, he said. For instance, it cleans up horse and sheep turds left on the street after the Trailing of the Sheep Festival’s Big Sheep Parade.

The World Cup Finals will bring people to town and boost the local option taxes, which provide revenue guarantees for air service and money for affordable housing endeavors he said: “Our role as a city is to provide a canvas for people to paint a picture on.”

Conversations have been ongoing since May examining increased public transportation for the event, snow removal, boosting the electrical grid for TV crews that will broadcast the event to Europe during prime time and bringing in temporary equipment to boost cell phone service for visitor, many of whom will be from Europe.

“We encourage businesses to think creatively about how can they engage,” said Harry Griffith, director of Sun Valley Economic Development. “For instance, sporting good stories might bring suppliers in to set up special displays of their products during that time.”

Local supermarkets might consider the impact the event will have on groceries. And, certainly, there will be a premium on way finding and other information.

“I get calls all the time asking questions like, ‘How far is it to Warm Springs from downtown Ketchum? Do I need to rent a car to get there?’ ” said Valley Chamber Director Mike McKenna.

The City hopes to put up twice as many decorations as last year and welcomes business coordinating their holiday plans with the city.

“We want to step up our game a little to make the town more festive,” said Bradshaw, noting that the City of Hailey has outshone Ketchum with its holiday decorations the past few years. “Good on Hailey for pushing us. Competition makes us all be better.

The City will light the new trees planted in Main Street following this summer’s construction project. It also will add banners highlight history and culture of the city, hopefully by the holidays, said Daniel Hansen, the city’s communications manager.

Finally, Bradshaw reminded attendees that Intermountain Gas will be relocating its natural gas line at the Trail Creek bridge at Ketchum’s south side for two to four weeks beginning this week. The bridge will be closed during construction with drivers asked to use the Serenade Lane/Second Avenue detour.

There will be no work on the bridge during the World Cup Finals to be held at Sun Valley Resort in mid-March. The work that might have been done then will be shifted to late August, instead.

Idaho Transportation Department will have an open house at 4 p.m. Oct. 29 at Ketchum’s Limelight Hotel to discuss all of its plans for the replacement of the bridge and other work from Elkhorn Road to the bridge.

And, yes, there probably will be some art work on the new bridge, said Bradshaw—hopefully, not as controversial as the artwork on the bridge over the Big Wood River.

The next Coffee Talk will be held from 9 to 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, at the new CK Bradley shop next to J McLaughlin on 4th Street in Ketchum.