LOGAN — A lack of funding has put renovation of the Utah Theater behind schedule in Logan.
Plans had called for renovation of the home of the Utah Festival Opera Company to be completed by summer 2008, but the economic downturn has slowed progress on the project.
Michael Ballam, Utah Festival Opera general manager, said it's uncertain when the 80-year-old art deco theater will reopen.
"We're in neutral at the moment," Ballam said.
A $1 million award from the Utah Legislature and a $500,000 grant from the George S. and Delores Eccles Foundation got renovation work going, he said, but big donors closed their pocketbooks with the downturn.
Despite the snag, Ballam said he's confident donors will return and the job will get done.
Gary Griffin, the opera company's managing director, said he believes the overhauled 350-seat theater will help revitalize the downtown and establish Logan as a prime summertime theater festival city.
"We'd like Logan to become a destination," Griffin said.
Joe Needham of Logan's Downtown Alliance said the theater could help liven up the district, which is long on offices and short on nighttime entertainment options.
"It will definitely add a dynamic we don't currently have," Needham said.
The Utah Festival Opera was given the theater in 2006 by the late Larry H. Miller.