Two big factors loom: People are fairly certain a Broadway-style theater would require some public funding, and the speaker of Utah's House happens to represent Sandy. Salt Lake City leaders, meanwhile, have planned a new cultural district downtown that would house, among other things, a new theater.

Back to those old days in Sandy: I remember one night in particular when the council was deadlocked over whether to buy 30 acres north of the mall to give the mayor's vision a jump-start. As the clock ticked on, one of the strongest opponents of the plan, Councilwoman Vonda Fairbanks, had a sudden change of heart. She later described it as a gut feeling.

All these years later, that gut feeling has turned into major heartburn for a lot of folks.

Frankly, Sandy should be commended for constructing a nice new downtown. But it will never replace the older one 100 blocks to the north.

Lawmakers blew it once by giving public money to the soccer stadium. They can't afford to blow it when deciding where the state's cultural center should lie.

This should be a no-brainer. Downtown Salt Lake City remains the state's showcase. If visionaries want to try to build their own versions of that, more power to them. Just don't make the rest of us pay for it.

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Jay Evensen is editor of the Deseret Morning News editorial page. E-mail: even@desnews.com