Fixed site in Sandy will be a dandy

This year it will be possible to visit the Salt Lake Parade of Homes and get there by riding TRAX. 

The Sandy location, the very heart of this year's Parade of Homes, made it possible. 

The main site will be at Carriage Chase, 9400 S. 2000 East.

Those choosing to come by rail will be able to park free and then take TRAX to the 90th or 100th South stops. Shuttle buses will then pick up passengers and make routine round-trip visits to the Parade site. 

As a special offer, TRAX will provide return-trip tokens free when show visitors purchase their ticket to the Parade. 

This year's Salt Lake Parade of Homes, entering its 55th year of showing off Utah's home-building trade, will run from Aug. 3-18. 

There will be five homes at the fixed-site location in Sandy. Show visitors will then have the opportunity to visit 24 other homes scattered from South Mountain, throughout the Salt Lake Valley and on into Tooele.

The custom homes at the fixed-site location will range in price from $375,000 to $600,000. 

Also at the fixed-site location there will be an exhibitors' tent set up. More than 80 companies and manufacturers will be present to display and talk about some of the latest in home innovations, including new construction products, new accessories and new designs. 

There will also be a food court set up at the fixed-site location that will be serving some popular items. There will also be four concessions set up at some of the scattered sites. 

Away from the fixed site, there will be 22 homes scattered throughout the southern end of the valley, one home in Stansbury Park and one in the new Overlake Development in Tooele. 

Prices of the homes at the scattered locations will start at around $100,000 and go up to $1.3 million. 

Tickets can be purchased at any of the scattered sites, as well as the fixed location. Prices are $7 for adults, $5 for seniors over 65 and children 12 and under. 

A ticket will be necessary to enter any of the 29 homes. Visitors will be given a Parade of Homes program when purchasing the ticket that will have addresses and a map showing the location, as well as other important facts, of each of the 29 homes. 

Parade hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

The five fixed-site builders are D. R. Horton, Elk Ridge Development, Kelly Anderson Construction, Tueller Construction and Gold Medallion Homes. 

The scattered-site builders are McArthur Homes, Aerie Construction, Stone Restoration, Bequette Development, Carlco Builders, Sovereign Homes, Steven Dailey Construction, Hewett Development, Wright Custom Homes, Village Carefree Communities, Dipo Construction, Hamlet Homes, Gold Medallion Homes, Ivory Homes, 3 - B Builders, R. W. Warner Construction, Bach Corporation, Desert Point Builders, John Laing Homes, Holmes Homes, Oasis Construction, Bangerter Construction, Fieldstone Homes and Holmes Homes 

Planning of the Parade started more than a year ago for the 2001 Salt Lake Parade of Homes. Some of the Valley's top builders began putting down on paper the homes they wanted to build. 

In many cases, the homes are ones never before seen in the Utah area. In other cases, the plans are makeovers of those homes that have proven to be popular with the Utah buyers. 

This year, officials expect attendance to be higher than in previous years. Each year, more and more people find reasons to attend the show. Some are in the market for a new home and are interested in seeing what many consider to be the "cream of the crop." 

Others are looking at the show to gather decorating ideas. Each of the homes is professionally decorated and will be introducing some of the latest in designs and accessories. 

Among the things that people will see a lot of in this year's show are: 

Stainless-steel appliances. The popular look in kitchen appliances is the stainless steel look in refrigerators, stoves, ovens, microwaves, dishwashers and trash compactors. 

Hardwood floors. Not only are builders going with hardwood floors in places like the kitchen, family room and entry, but they're going with specialized hardwood, ranging from the distressed look to woods like hickory to a very narrow cut in the wood. 

Unique color schemes. The interior designers have become bold in their display of colors. Where light colors used to be popular, more and more people are going with darker colors in flooring and cabinets, and to brighter colors on the walls. A number of builders also will be showing new painting techniques. One home will have painted murals on a wall. 

Home theaters. Having a separate entertainment room is becoming very popular 

Travertine. The look of stone in flooring is becoming very popular in places like the kitchen, bathroom and entry. 

There will be, of course, a number of other new features and styles displayed in this year's show.

For a more detailed look at the homes featured in this year's Parade, log onto www.utahparadeofhomes.com for color renderings, floor plans and much more.