Where can you sit at gingham-covered tables, eat pizza and popcorn, boo the villain and cheer the heroine? Or, dance to the beat of big bands and watch live ballet performances?

Downtown Murray - the new cultural center of the Salt Lake Valley.With Fashion Place Mall a few miles to the south, city officials readily admit that downtown Murray will never regain its status as the city's economic center.

But thanks to a unique partnership between the city and private citizens, the newly renovated downtown has emerged as the center of cultural activity.

Beginning Thursday, Sept. 5, the spotlight will shine on that center as residents celebrate the third annual Murray Vintage Days.

Designed to showcase many art forms, the celebration will also recognize individuals who've contributed to the arts in Murray - as well as educate its citizens on the city's rich cultural heritage.

In the limelight will be Bill and Susan Wright, who've taken the lead in turning a dilapidated area into the centerpiece of historic Murray.

"My husband has a philosophy that everybody should try to leave the world a little bit better than they found it," Susan Wright said.

Wright, who worked in a Murray bank in 1964, watched a vibrant downtown become home to pawn shops and bars.

She and her husband set out to give it a new facade. The Wrights purchased and restored a number of buildings along Poplar Street, including:

- The Murray Mansion, built in 1899 by John P. Cahoon, was restored in 1984. It's now a reception center.

- The original First Baptist Church, rebuilt in 1926, was restored into the Murray Chapel - a wedding chapel.

- An old Safeway grocery store was converted into a ballet center.

- The old boarded-up Sportsman Club became a costume shop.

- A home built for Cahoon's mother in 1902, is a floral shop.

- Money's Ice Cream Store now serves as Dora Jeane's Deli.

- A former Grand Central store is now the Murray Art Center.

The center's front portion houses an art gallery; the back, additional studios for the Wright's ballet school.In the center is 5,000 square feet of hardwood where couples dance to live bands each Tuesday and Saturday nights.

"We picked up the old crowd that before the war danced at the Coconut Grove and the Terrace Ballroom," Wright said. "For many years, these people had no place to go."

Good begot good.

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Other businesses, including the Desert Star Playhouse and Day Cultural Art Center - have added to the cultural atmosphere of the area.

"Because of these developments, it (downtown) has become a more inviting place for people to walk and visit at night," said Blaine K. Gehring, director of redevelopment. "Reputable businesses have moved back."

The city has done its part to give a new face to downtown Murray.

The cobblestone path to Murray's historical district is now lined with trees - planted just in time for Vintage Days, the celebration of Murray's history.

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