Alliance won't boost funds for Unity Center

The Alliance for Unity collected some extra cash last year when it raised money for the Unity Center, a social services center to be built in Salt Lake City.

While some estimates put the extra cash at more than $1 million, alliance officials aren't saying how much extra money they have. The one thing they are saying is that the extra money will not be going to the yet-to-be-built Unity Center.

"We agreed to $4 million, and that was it," said Alexander Morrison, executive director of the alliance. "We've sent $4 million to the city, and that's the end of it as far as we're concerned."

The alliance agreed to raise $4 million in cash for the Unity Center and, along with donations from billionaire James Sorenson, that contribution made up the Unity Center's $5 million price tag.

But as Salt Lake leaders have put together the Unity Center project, they have found they could use more money. They have sought to leverage the alliance's dollars to bring in other capital contributors, like Guadalupe Schools and Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation.

But while the Unity Center could use the cash, the alliance is resolved that the Unity Center won't see a dime of the extra money.

That's no sweat off Salt Lake City Public Services' director Rick Graham's back.

"We have $4.5 million, and that's what we're spending," Graham said.

Morrison said in the coming months the alliance will decide how to spend the extra cash and may put some of it into a scholarship fund.