A Utah cultural center, likely to cost at least $55 million, is on the wish list for the Utah State Historical Society, the Utah Arts Council and the Utah State Archives.
Although the proposed 200,000-square-foot facility, to be shared by the three groups, would not be built before the 2002 Winter Games, historical society director Max Evans said he believes it is a project that should materialize in the near future."I think we need to start working on this," he said. "I think this is very doable."
Arts council director Bonnie Stephens agreed, but she admitted that the project is "still at the dream stage."
Evans said he thinks the money could be raised if the Legislature becomes involved in the project. Stephens said it will require a wide base of support.
The cultural center would be located somewhere in downtown Salt Lake City in the Rio Grande area. It would be a focal point for history, the arts and Utah culture, featuring collections from the three state agencies. The center also may include public exhibit spaces, a research center, a collections repository, conservation laboratories, offices, multipurpose rooms, a catering kitchen, exhibits and conference and workshop rooms.
Evans said the project's two biggest obstacles are location and funding.
He said existing state property around the Rio Grande Depot, 300 S. Rio Grande, is one possible location -- especially if the state could purchase a little more of the surrounding land. The Utah State Historical Society already is housed there, and an arts council facility is nearby.
Evans said another possible downtown site would be Pioneer Park. A cultural center there would help further clean up and bring life to that area of downtown, he said, but stressed that nothing is firm on either of the two possible sites.
Stephens said such a facility in the Rio Grande area would continue the trend of uniting Salt Lake City's east and west sides. She said past studies also indicate area homeless shelters actually fit well into the scope of such projects.
The 200,000-square-foot size also is tentative, and Evans said it is an optimistic proposal.
Establishing a cultural center has been a topic of informal discussion for the past three years.
Stephens said the shared building looks like a good fit, because the arts council is spread out in three different buildings, the state archives in two buildings and state history in another. At some point, all three entities will need new structures, and a shared facility would cut costs in areas like collections management, cleaning and restoration.
She said a recent study to gauge public opinion on the proposal is not yet ready to be released, but the results are positive.
Evans said some other states, like Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska and Washington, have new facilities shared by both the state history and state archives departments. However, the addition of a shared partnership with an arts council is rare. California's new state archives building also contains an art galley, but that may be the closest similar example to Utah's dream of a cultural center.
Evans said he sees the center as a place where patrons could discover the state in all its different aspects.
Utah has a complex, unique story that is not told very well, he said. No other state has combined the elements of exploration, persecution, migration, development and fulfillment in quite the manner Utah has.
Stephens said the next step in the project is to talk to the respective boards of the three participating agencies, gather their support and discuss the idea further with the state building board.