Date: October 11,
2004 Downtowns revitalized through arts Celia R. Baker The Salt Lake Tribune When it comes to revitalizing
urban areas, you gotta have art -- or so say downtown Salt Lake City
stakeholders who want a cluster of culture venues in downtown Salt Lake
City. Michael Beyard, a senior fellow of the Urban Land Institute in
Washington, D.C., says the choir of voices calling for a downtown "culture
block" is in tune with the times. "The trend toward revitalizing downtowns with cultural and
entertainment offerings is the most successful strategy seen in the past
couple of decades around the nation," says Beyard.
Examples abound, he adds, from Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts to
Seattle's resurrected downtown, which thrives around its new concert hall,
public library and refurbished theaters.
Discussions about a culture block in Salt Lake City have centered
around Capitol Theatre and the old Utah Theatre at 148 S.
Main. Last week, Utah Theatre owner Rick Howa pulled out of
the project, saying he might demolish the theater to build housing and
retail on the block. Howa also said he might partner with Clear Channel
Entertainment to restore the theater as a venue for touring shows, though
arts groups and others oppose giving Clear Channel control of the theater
if public funds are used in its renovation.
Other arts-based proposals for downtown include a pair of small
theaters, dance schools for Ballet West and Children's Dance Theatre and
film venues. The new Museum of Utah Art and History and proposed
"satellite" exhibits from the University of Utah's Utah Museum of Fine
Arts and Utah Museum of Natural History figure into the plan, along with
shops, restaurants and galleries. Estimates that included renovation of
the Utah Theatre priced the project at around $109.5
million, of which $19.5 million could come from refocusing existing
capital campaigns.
The proposal's proponents include members of the Salt Lake
Chamber/Downtown Alliance, politicians, property owners and investors.
Despite Howa's surprise announcement, the Chamber still plans to update a
1997 study that said more theater space is needed, and buildings around
downtown -- not just in the block between Main and West Temple and 100 and
200 South -- are being considered for arts/entertainment-based
development.
Turning the bold ideas into reality will be challenging. Detractors
say funding plans -- a vague combination of foundation, corporate and
private funds and bonding -- will simply shift economic growth from
suburbs to the city center, and will tie up funding sources required for
more pressing needs.
"Everyone likes amenities," says Mike Jerman, vice-president of the
Utah Taxpayers Association, "but considering that our state and local tax
and fee burden is already third highest in the country, and that we have
so many burning needs in transportation and education, this is probably
not a wise use of the tax base."
Howa has said he doubts the plan's backers can get the funding they
need, and he doesn't want to wait to turn a profit from his property.
Building consensus among interested parties is one of the most difficult
aspects of such projects, Beyard said, but other cities have made it work.
Culture block backers, such as Byron Russell of the Salt Lake
Chamber, point to Salt Lake City's West Broadway neighborhood as a
small-scale example of the what can happen when stakeholders cooperate to
mix arts and entertainment venues with restaurants, clubs and residential
development. Once a grimy expanse of broken sidewalks and crumbling
warehouses, the area west of Main Street on 300 South now is one of the
city's trendiest areas. Businesses on the street give the Rose Wagner
Performing Arts Center a chunk of the credit for the area's renewal.
In the late 1980s, West Broadway (300 South) was part of Salt Lake
City's red light district, says Karen Olson, owner of Metropolitan
Restaurant at 173 W. Broadway. Olson says Salt Lake City's 2002 Olympic
bid and the opening of the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center combined to
raise the fortunes of the street. After the Rose Wagner project got going,
national restaurant chains took an interest in the area, the Peery Hotel
was renovated and residential projects got under way, Olson said.
The renaissance that "the Rose" helped to bloom on Broadway is a
microcosm of urban renewal projects around the United States. The early
model is New York City's Lincoln Center, which transformed the slums seen
in the film version of "West Side Story" into concert halls and theaters
in the 1960s. The Lincoln Center stoked an economic engine that made
Columbus Avenue one of the city's safest, most desirable areas -- home to
some of Manhattan's finest shops, hotels and residential developments.
Other cities have found success with similar formulas, Beyard says:
Seattle turned a decaying downtown into a thriving center of arts and
entertainment that draws thousands of nighttime visitors to its theaters,
concert halls and clubs; Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts transformed
blighted Broad Street into a vibrant tourist attraction; the clustered
entertainment venues of Denver Center for the Performing Arts helped a
depressed downtown become a place where growing numbers of people choose
to live.
Pittsburgh's downtown, once a red-light district, now draws traffic
with a sparkling collection of arts venues, residential buildings, and an
arts high school. San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center and the museums and
galleries that surround it helped turn that city's once-grim SoMa
neighborhood into the city's hot new place. Houston, Dallas, Cleveland --
all have revitalized areas that were helped along by generous dollops of
art, sport and culture offerings.
While those cities have larger populations than Salt Lake City, and
some have funding sources not available to Utah's capital, there is a
midsize Western city that reinvented itself through focusing on arts
projects. Salt Lake Chamber president Lane Beattie says chamber members
are taking a hard look at Tacoma, Wash., which has a smaller metropolitan
area than Salt Lake City's.
By the 1960s, Tacoma's downtown was a "ghost town," says Benjii
Bittle, the city's arts administrator. Renewal began in the late 1980s
with the restoration of three historic theaters, which now anchor a
theater district on one end of Tacoma's downtown. At the other end, the
University of Washington created an urban campus, enlivening the city with
crowds of young people.
The ball kept rolling. An old train station, purchased by the city
for a dollar, was renovated, and glass art installations donated by Tacoma
native Dale Chihuly made it a tourist destination. The newly vibrant area
attracted state and national museums, prompting the City of Tacoma to
build a Bridge of Glass filled with millions of dollars of Chihuly glass.
The town's image was sealed as home of "The Art of Northwest Living."
"That area of town is thriving now," says Bittle. "The retail
spaces were snapped up, and condos were built. Rents are up. It really
turned downtown around. Now Tacoma is kind of a 'poster child' for
economic development downtown -- the flavor of the month. We are
constantly asked to share what we did."
Beyard says what worked in Tacoma could work in Salt Lake City too.
"A theater district is a great idea. It supports the restaurants
and clubs, and having these concentrations makes wonderful anchors within
downtown." The LDS Church's plans to build Brigham Young University and
LDS Business college campuses at the Triad Center should be advantageous
too, says Beyard.
"That's another aspect of cultural concentration that cities are
using successfully," he says. "Students are up late at night, and out on
the streets. It's wonderful to have that presence in your downtown. People
perceive it to be safer."
Beyard cautions that success depends on creating a careful mixture
of sports, culture, performing arts, universities, retail, restaurants,
residential growth, available parking and smooth transportation.
"It really takes all of those acting together as part of a broad
conceptual plan," Beyard says. "Every city needs to do it incrementally,
making sure each step is leading toward an understood goal."
Beattie says it is already happening. He cites the LDS church's
plan to spend $500 million on retail space, college campuses and
residential projects boosts downtown renewal without using public funds.
The cash infusion, he says, is a motivator for the rest of the downtown
community to take advantage of the moment.
A strong foundation is already in place, Beattie says. Utah
Symphony & Opera, Ballet West and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir have
already "branded" downtown Salt Lake City as a culture destination;
residential building is booming throughout the area; Temple Square, the
Salt Palace and Delta Center draw millions of potential patrons for
museums, theaters and restaurants; and the TRAX system links distant
entertainment destinations into a "cultural necklace" that needs a
dazzling centerpiece.
"If the Utah Theatre is pulled off the table, we can
still pursue the idea of a cultural area," Beattie said, noting that
Howa's intention to replace the Utah Theatre with retail and
residential development would harmonize well with cultural development.
Ever the optimist, Beattie added: "It is exciting to have so many
wonderful options."
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Tribune reporter Heather May contributed to this article.
DOWNTOWNS THAT WORK Arts- and entertainment-driven revivals
SEATTLE
In the early 1980s, Seattle's downtown was run-down, dangerous and
deserted. A renaissance began with the renovation of an old movie palace
for Broadway-style shows. A new arts museum and concert hall followed.
PORTLAND, Ore.
Integrated planning began in the 1970s in Portland. The thriving
downtown is built around strong retail and a vital arts scene anchored by
restored historic theaters and new theaters. Portland's light-rail system
works with the developments.
PHILADELPHIA
A big-city success story happened when millions in public and
private money went into developing more than 20 performance venues along
historic Broad Street, which was mired in decay. More than 2,500
residential units have been added.
DENVER
With a fine museum of art at one end and Coors Field at the other,
the city offers a variety of reasons for people to visit downtown.
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