Fund for Eccles Theatre boostedAuthor(s): Adam Benson Herald Journal staff abenson@hjnews.com |
The public battle between Logan city and arts boosters over the future of the Ellen Eccles Theatre could be coming to an end, thanks to a multi-million dollar addition to an endowment set up in November.
About three weeks ago, Wasatch Property Management CEO Dell Loy Hansen announced that an additional $3 million would be poured into a $1 million trust fund donated Nov. 1 by company investors to the Cache Valley Center for the Arts to help defray costs for the Main Street theater.
With the roughly $4 million in tow, officials are optimistic the charitable trust fund will help keep the theater's doors open well into the future while enabling the municipality to cut its financial relationship to the downtown landmark within three years.
"Everyone is in agreement on this. It's part of a plan that was worked out several months ago," said Logan Municipal Councilwoman Laraine Swenson, who took a lead role in talks.
Swenson said once the endowment reaches $6.25 million, it will generate enough yearly interest to pay for the facility's operational costs in perpetuity.
"If all of those funds come forward, they'll be able to have what they need to operate," she said.
To help reach that threshold, Logan Mayor Randy Watts said the city will dedicate $750,000 to the fund over the next three years.
Since 2001, Logan has given more than $1.5 million to the CVCA in earmarks that have gone toward structural improvements and utilities for Ellen Eccles Theatre, the Bullen Center and the Thatcher-Young Mansion.
This fiscal year, the city set aside $248,566, following a $287,891 contribution the year before. The trio of buildings are used by the CVCA for performances but owned by the city.
"I was never going to leave them totally without funding," Watts said. "Now, we can move quicker" to divest the city of its financial role with the organization.
As for the remainder of the $6.25 million target, CVCA Executive Director Wally Bloss said he'll approach the Cache County Council by February with a request for tax dollars from the Recreation, Arts, Parks and Zoos, and restaurant tax funds.
In the meantime, he said the CVCA's Board of Trustees is exploring further cost-cutting measures to save more money for the aging facilities.
"We're going to have to start replacing some major components. If we are completely independent … they need to figure out what they need to live on," Bloss said.
The CVCA still raises about $200,000 a year for programming on top of their operational costs, and those involved with the fundraising project say none of the money will go toward those efforts.
Swenson said the city's desire to pull away from its financial ties to the CVCA are becoming more and more necessary as infrastructure needs continue to pile up, but added she didn't want to see the popular theater fall by the wayside.
"At some point in time, I realized the theater probably would have its operational funds cut either by this mayor or some other one, and I wanted them to have security," she said. "Logan city is struggling to fund other operational needs and that money can be so well-used in other places."
Watts agreed.
"As tight as the money is, No. 1 on my plate is taking care of the safety and well-being of Logan," he said.
However, he said the private contributions are an indication of how much Cache Valley's arts scene means to those who live here.
"Most of his (Hansen's) investors are Logan or Cache County type people who want to keep their money here in the valley and help the arts," he said.
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