Permanent playhouse helpAuthor: Adam Benson Herald Journal staff abenson@hjnews.com |
City officials and an executive of a Logan-based real estate company announced Wednesday the creation of a charitable trust fund that will generate thousands of dollars a year for upkeep and maintenance of the Ellen Eccles Theatre.
Beginning Nov. 1, a $1 million permanent endowment, donated by Wasatch Property Management investors, will be made available to the Cache Valley Center for the Arts to help defray infrastructure-related costs for the Main Street theater.
The stock donation will net about $50,000 in cash-flow income that stands to increase yearly as the endowment grows. The money will be controlled by the newly created Wasatch-Logan Arts Foundation, and a five-member Board of Directors will meet quarterly.
"We need to be a part of the community at the right times, and we listen carefully," said Wasatch Property Management CEO Dell Loy Hansen. "We want to be part of the solution to a problem."
Wally Bloss, executive director of the CVCA, called the contribution a "jump start."
"It is unique for the theater," he said. "This is great, and it is very encouraging."
Logan Mayor Randy Watts has stood firm on a 2004 campaign promise to slash funding the city has given to the arts organization for more than a decade, which pays for operational costs at the three buildings — the Bullen Center, Thatcher-Young Mansion and the Eccles Theatre — which are owned by the city but used for performances rent-free by the CVCA.
Since 2001, the municipality has given more than $1.5 million to the CVCA in earmarks that have gone toward structural improvements and utilities for the three buildings.
This fiscal year, the city set aside $248,566, following a $287,891 contribution the year prior.
Faced with a $57 million capital improvement project list and continued demands on streets, sewer lines and other infrastructure, Watts insists the city can't continue to bankroll the facilities so generously.
The newly formed gratuity could be among the first steps toward divesting the city of its financial support altogether, Watts said.
"How could I continue to fund the theater at the level we have and hold the (city's) departments hostage?" he said. "No. 1 on the plate for the city of Logan is the safety and well-being of the citizens."
He also said he'll cut funding for the theater in the upcoming year and wants CVCA's board members to more aggressively pursue donations from the private sector.
"I want the board to take a stronger, more proactive approach to finish the puzzle so the city can completely pull away from the theater," Watts said. "I hope the entire arts groups can put their heads together."
However, he vowed to allocate a sum of money in the upcoming fiscal year to help keep the theater afloat.
"I'm not going to let that entity fall by the wayside and collect cobwebs," Watts said. "I don't hate the theater."
The ultimate goal is to generate and keep about $5 million in the endowment, which would yield $250,000 a year for the theater. If that happens, city leaders could think about rerouting its yearly donations to the theater back into its general fund balance.
Hansen said there's still a long way to go before the theater could operate independently of the city, but expressed confidence that it could happen.
"We want to help stage a community solution to a problem that will not get easier," he said. "We think that this is a good first step, but we don't think it is an end step."
Logan Municipal Councilwoman Tami Pyfer said city officials may lean on county leaders to free up more dollars through its RAPZ/Restaurant Tax as they look for other funding avenues to keep the region's arts viable.
Currently, the Center for the Arts receives more than $77,000 annually through that funding mechanism as part of a 20-year fixed rate to repay a bond that financed the theater's 1993 renovations.
"I think we're just realizing now that we should be asking the county to do more," Pyfer said, but added she didn't agree with the idea of pulling city funding.
"This is definitely not the time to step back as a city," she said. "I don't think divesting ourselves is the answer."
Hansen said the endowment's aim is to alleviate a financial strain on the city while ensuring that Cache Valley's arts scene remains dynamic and robust.
"The one thing we've always believed is our arts deserve more support than the taxes we pay," he said. "Being in the arts world is very difficult because it's not rewarded in our society at a level you can sustain. This is only a piece of the puzzle."
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