The Empress Theatre on Magna's main street, 93 years old and counting, is fighting the ravages of age, but the playhouse -- believed to be the only one in Salt Lake County west of Bangerter Highway -- is still kicking the can-can.

Dowdy on the outside, the Empress on the inside is a largely finished theater with 167 seats where plays and musicals are staged by amateur entertainers who come from Salt Lake, Davis and Utah counties.

"Finished is a relative term. We've finished it to a point where we got an occupancy permit in September 2006. There have been a number of ongoing projects since then," said Rod Walgamott, chairman of the Oquirrh Hills Performing Arts Alliance. The nonprofit group leases the Empress from the estate of Leo Ware, a real-estate investor and sometime actor whose credits include a small part in "The Executioner's Song," a made-for-TV movie about Utah murderer Gary Gilmore, who pushed for his own execution.

The Empress opened in 1916 as a burlesque theater for Kennecott miners. A year later, the historic structure began showing silent films. It operated until 1955, when the Empress shut down and remained closed for more than a half-century.

Ware became the owner in the late 1980s after trading for it in a real-estate deal. Almost single-handedly, he worked 17 years to renovate the building for live theater before his death in 2007, Walgamott said.

"It had a caved-in roof. It had a fire. The building was condemned and it was scheduled to be torn down," Walgamott said. "He jackhammered out the original sloped concrete floor. He dug a basement. I'm told that he spent three years with a wheelbarrow, shovel and a pick."

The alliance leased the building in 2006. It reopened the Empress that year without lighting or sound equipment. Since then, Walgamott and wife Joline have borrowed nearly $70,000 to continue the renovation.

"We've put that in over time. Just whenever we had a shortfall, we'd borrow some more money and put it into it," he said.

Walgamott also donated $8,000 to secure an option to buy the property. The alliance is trying to raise an additional $12,000 that would complete the $20,000 down payment necessary to transfer the building's title.

The theater has just completed its third season. With the economy struggling, revenues fell below the $80,000 needed to cover expenses, vice chairman Kevin McKenzie said.

"With this year, we ran about $10,000 behind. We had a good year last year and had to eat into those reserves," McKenzie said.

The alliance has received grants from Salt Lake County, which have paid for marketing and other operating expenses. It has sought funds from private foundations that could be used to fund the acquisition, but has been turned down.

Walgamott said the alliance is planning fundraising campaigns to generate more money for the down payment. He hopes Salt Lake County will kick in more for the theater and possibly take over its management.

If that doesn't happen, the lease-option will convert to a conventional lease, and the alliance will keep plugging along.

"There is a segment of the community that absolutely loves this theater, both patrons and the artists who perform, and the volunteers who get involved at all levels," Walgamott said, likening the Empress to a forum where people interested in the performing arts can meet and get to know each other.

"As a result, we are on our fourth marriage that has resulted from people meeting and developing relationships," he said.

"On Halloween night, two of our actors got engaged onstage. It's become a kind of a community subculture," Walgamott said.

pbeebe@sltrib.com