"They want to make sure we aren't living from hand to mouth," said Paul Williams, president and CEO of This Is The Place Foundation, which oversees management of the park's 43 buildings and 450 acres across Sunnyside Avenue from Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. "They are willing to do it if the state steps in and helps us get started."

Williams is consulting with state officials and legislators to come up with $2.8 million from the state for the park. This Is The Place already receives $700,000 annually from Utah State Parks and Recreation, which managed the park for 41 years until handing it over to the nonprofit foundation in 1998.

The number of period-setting buildings at This Is The Place has increased from about a dozen to 43 since the private foundation took over in 1998. There are now 24 full-time staffers and a varied offering of living history programs.

Because of tight budgets, there were 14 employees and limited programs when the state managed This Is The Place.

Williams said paid visitation to the park was close to 100,000 in 2005, about a 50 percent increase from 2004. Counting visitors to This Is The Place Monument, which is free, about 350,000 people visited in 2005.

Williams says about half of the $6.5 million in donation would be used to build a 700-seat barn, which would in turn generate revenue by hosting events such as concerts and plays in an expanded year-round capacity.

The $700,000 given to This Is The Place each year accounts for less than half its annual budget. The remainder is covered by donations and revenue generated from admission fees, special events and seasonal programs. Nearly $17 million in donations has been raised since the foundation took over management.

"We try to operate at around $2 million, but we were a little bit over that last year," Williams said.

Mary Tullius, State Parks and Recreation director, says her agency supports the $2.8 million request.

"It would be a win-win situation for us. They have done some wonderful things up there, things we would not have been able to do as a state," Tullius said. "If, for some reason, they had to give the park back to the state we would have to go back to the Legislature and ask for more funding to help us operate it. They have our support and interest in helping them find a way to succeed."

Tullius also said it is easier for a private, nonprofit group to find donations than for a park managed by the state.

Williams stopped short of saying the park would have to be handed back to the state if the $2.8 million is not granted, but said it remained an option.

The foundation, he said, will continue to work closely with state park officials.

"We want to be successful and help the park reach its full potential," he said.

brettp@sltrib.com

Historic timeline of This Is The Place Heritage Park

* Boy Scouts build a wooden marker in 1917 at the place where Brigham Young entered the Salt Lake Valley. It was the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the Mormon pioneers in 1847.

* A white stone monument replaces the wooden marker in 1921, with more than 2,000 people on hand, some from the original pioneer party.

* On the 100th anniversary of Young's famous statement declaring the Salt Lake Valley to be the "right place," This Is The Place Monument is dedicated in 1947, with an estimated 50,000 people in attendance.

* Prominent citizens buy much of the land in 1957 surrounding the monument and give it to the state. Supervision of the land and monument is given to the Utah State Parks and Recreation Commission.

* Brigham Young's Forest Farmhouse is moved to the park and restored in 1975. In 1976, the Farmhouse opens to the public.

* A "welcome home" celebration is held as members of the sesquicentennial re-enactment wagon train arrive in the Salt Lake Valley in July 1997, with 52,000 people in attendance.

* The Legislature approves a management change for the park in 1998 to the private, nonprofit This Is The Place Foundation.

Source: http://www.thisistheplace.org/