This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It looks like a bow for Broadway.
Salt Lake City Council members took a significant but cautious step toward a new theater Tuesday, giving their initial nod to committing tax dollars for Mayor Ralph Becker's $110 million Utah Performing Arts Center.
And they didn't stop there. They also agreed to consider sweetening the funding pie to possibly renovate the mothballed Utah Theater, directly across Main Street from the proposed Broadway-style playhouse.
"If it doesn't get done now," Councilman Luke Garrott said about the Utah Theater, "it's not going to get done."
He won praise for the second theater idea — upgrade estimates range from $20 million to $80 million — as the council included that vision as a legislative intent.
"Eventually we will have two stand-alones that will be the jewel of the city," Councilman Van Turner predicted about a 2,500-seat touring-show playhouse buttressed by a potential film center. "It's a lot of funding things we are talking about in this environment, but I think we need to continue pushing forward."
Salt Lake County is studying potential uses for the Utah Theater, which recently was bought by Salt Lake City as a potential film center.
The council voted unanimously to create an interlocal agreement with its Redevelopment Agency and school district to eventually commit tax revenue for the Utah Performing Arts Center on the block stretching from 100 South to 200 South between Main and State streets.
That money, comprising a so-called Community Development Area, would be formally released once construction of the theater and proposed next-door office tower are complete.
The council also voted unanimously to hold a public hearing Nov. 22 on approving an $18 million sales-tax bond toward the design of the mega-playhouse. That money would be repaid by a $110 million theater bond — financed largely by an expiring EnergySolutions Arena infrastructure bond — if the council ultimately approves the theater.
That design funding may happen, in effect, as early as next month, according to State Sen. Ben McAdams, D-Salt Lake City, a top Becker adviser.
"If we issue this [$18 million design bond] now," McAdams said, "it's highly likely that 18 months later, we'll issue the $110 million bond."
The approval vote will come in a series of steps, depending on the interest-rate market. Council members also called for more information on the impact a Broadway-class theater would have on existing art houses and museums.
"Is this going to do them in?" Council Chairwoman Jill Remington Love asked. "Any assurance you can give us … that's helpful to us."
A consultant, promoter and senior Becker adviser strongly insisted a new theater would not "cannibalize" the city's arts groups.
In general, the "main conclusion" of theater studies shows "there does indeed exist a sort of pent-up demand" for Broadway touring shows, council deputy director Jennifer Bruno told the seven members as Becker looked on.
"It seems like it's a reasonable proposal," she added. "Can the city, can our market afford it is a totally separate question."
McAdams notes the primary source — $6.2 million per year toward a $7.1 million finance charge — would come from recapturing the property taxes around the NBA arena. That would be bolstered with another $1.1 million from the taxes on the theater block — which the council initially agreed to Tuesday. The money for the expiring arena bond becomes available in April 2015, about the same time the theater could open, given a design period and a two-year build.
But a massive stumblingblock named Salt Lake County remains. The County Council must agree to redirect its portion of the downtown property tax to make the $110 million theater bond pencil out.
Council Republicans have voiced concerns and they have yet to vote.
McAdams says the sense of urgency is the "historically low" interest rates. He concedes there will be a gap for funding the 25-year bond before the money is available in 2015, but says it could be bridged with corporate contributions, federal tax credits and an estimated $10 million in naming rights.