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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A new Broadway-style theater is being planned for Salt Lake City.
The theater will be downtown in the former Newspaper Agency Corp. building.
The city has entered into negotiations with the private development arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to buy the property. The two parties have one year to negotiate the sale of the property.
The 2,400-seat theater is expected to cost $81.5 million and could open as soon as 2012.
"The Utah Performance Center will be an asset that is unparalleled in our region," Mayor Ralph Becker said at a ceremony Thursday.
The center is expected to bring in about $22 million per year to the local economy, according to estimates provided by the city. Of that, about 15 percent could come from out-of-state visitors.
Three studies estimate there could be 15 weeks per year where touring Broadway productions might fill up a large theater in the Salt Lake area, according to city officials.
In a statement, Becker addressed concerns about launching such an ambitious project in the midst of a struggling economy.
By pursuing the downtown project "we are taking care of, and in fact contributing to, the economic viability and vitality of our city and state for generations to come."
A detailed funding proposal for the project is expected to be released in the coming months.
The Salt Lake suburb of Sandy also has plans for a Broadway-style theater, and the two cities are in an unofficial race over the projects.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
