This Is the Place erasing the 'red'

It's also part of the park's plan to finally have a budget that operates in the black. In the 2004-05 fiscal year, the park's net balance was -$738,641. From June 2005 to this June, the park will be at -$205,200. And from June 2006 to June 2007, the park is expected to finally have a positive net budget balance, of $89,594.

Turning a profit will be a challenge, said foundation board member and state historic preservation officer Wilson Martin.

"We need to decrease expenditures, increase revenue and improve access," Martin said. "Living history is expensive, and it has to be done right."

A new economic strategy and revamped Board of Trustees was also related to the $2 million one-time cash expenditure from the state — money Ivory hopes the foundation will never have to ask for again.

"There's not a lot of enthusiasm for going to the state for money right now," he said. "What we're hoping to do is maintain the same level of state support. In the past, it's been $800,000."

Foundation predecessors, Dahl said, did set the park up for the future by bringing in dozens of historic buildings and cultivating a strong corps of volunteers.

"We have a plan that will allow us to reduce our overhead and utilize our resources more efficiently," he said.

"I think that will overcome that financial burden," he added. "And once that's overcome, we can really start having fun and improving our product and programming. Once we get the programming and business model right, we can really start realizing the future of this place."

Links to the zoo

To help make the park financially solvent, Ivory cut the staff from 30 to 12 people, which reduced expenses by $700,000. Volunteer staff is growing, and they are taking on some of the duties of the previously paid jobs — like collecting entrance fees.

But part of a grander scheme includes partnering with the park's neighbor, Hogle Zoo. Ivory hopes he can lease 5 acres to the parking-poor zoo, for a 400-stall parking lot. In addition, 17 empty acres above the park could become research areas for programs like the Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR), Ivory said.

"To bring in $500,000 or $600,000 a year (from leasing), that would be a wonderful fund for the park each year," he said. "We could be economically sound for the long run."