Could a gondola from Flagstaff down into downtown Jim Thorpe be the solution to the parking problem in the borough?

Or could it become a tourist draw that creates additional problems with the number of visitors coming to see the Victorian town?

These are some of the questions that have been asked as the proposed project is discussed by The Flagstaff owners and county commissioners.

On Thursday, the commissioners provided a brief update to a discussion that came about last month regarding a landing location for a gondola from the top of the mountain.

Commissioners’ Chairman Mike Sofranko said that since Tom Romanchik, owner of The Flagstaff, came to the board last month, the county has learned that it doesn’t own all the property down to the Lehigh River in the area where the landing is proposed.

“There’s another owner,” he said, adding that he isn’t exactly sure of the square footage of that property. “It’s not all county property, and that is one thing that has got to be considered.”

Whether that means the county acquire that parcel, or if Romanchik needs to also work with that property owner, Sofranko didn’t have a definitive answer.

“I don’t know the answer to that yet.”

He voiced his concerns about the project coming to fruition, mainly for the possibility of even more visitors packing the downtown area in the already congested historic town.

“As we sit and talk about it, there’s all the aspects of having the tram, like the benefits and Commissioner (Rocky) Ahner has said all of that. But then there is also the impact it has on everyone being in town ... then there’s the impacts of if you don’t do something. There’s a lot more to the discussion than just the land part of it. It’s something we’re trying to figure out,” Sofranko said.

Ahner, who has spoken in favor of the project before, said that the landing site Sofranko spoke about is only one option at this time.

He said that he has some concerns about the current potential location because of having two property owners; but noted this is something that needs to be worked out if this project does, in fact, move forward.

Ahner said he looks at this project as a way to help with the traffic congestion and parking in downtown Jim Thorpe.

“I get a call every weekend about the traffic,” he said. “People are calling me. Our parking people are calling us and I tell you what, there’s 250 parking spots up there on top of the hill that would alleviate some of the traffic in town.

“... I think we got to be moving forward on this.”

Sofranko agreed with some points Ahner made, however noted that logistically “dumping more people into the county lot, there’s a pinch point, and that pinch point now creates safety concerns and it slows up traffic because people just walk right out (on the road).”

The commissioners said that the discussion is still taking place, but no decisions regarding the matter have been made formally at any public meeting to date.

Last month, the commissioners said that there has not been a formal request made for the gondola ending in the county parking lot, and no final decisions or locations have been determined.

Sofranko stressed last month that any landing location for the proposed gondola, which has been a dream of several developers over the past few decades, is purely a rumor at this time.

“Nothing has been decided,” he had said. “It’s just an in-depth conservation.”

The idea of a gondola originating at The Flagstaff began as an April Fool’s joke published in the Times News in 1976, but has since become a source of discussion and planning by several developers over the years; ultimately, never coming to fruition.

Ahner said last month, those developers didn’t have the money to invest in such a project and funding fell through. But now, there’s an investor looking to again bring the project to the forefront and make the dream a reality.