A home for symphony?

AMERICAN FORK — As city officials began working on a plan to use $9 million to improve the community's cultural arts and recreation programs, leaders of the American Fork Symphony hoped part of that money would be earmarked for a permanent home suitable for the orchestra's needs.

Their target was the old Harrington School, built in 1902, which has been vacant for several years since the Alpine School District moved its administrative offices to new facilities saying the school was no longer safe.

Mayor Ted Barratt said the symphony will get a home, but the Harrington School is out of the picture — at least for the foreseeable future.

"Yes, they're included," Barratt told the Deseret Morning News on Monday. "They'll have the 100-seat mini-theater in the city building for rehearsals. They'll have the 700-seat facility in the Apollo Hall, so there is something for them."

Barratt said buying and renovating the Harrington School would be too expensive and too cumbersome for the city to take on right now.

"We have to be moving forward by June 30, 2006, to use these funds," Barratt said of the money that largely comes from various city redevelopment projects. Barratt said there is talk that the Legislature may push the deadline for using such money to mid-2005, which makes it even more pressing to move forward quickly.

Barratt said if the symphony, the community choir and the other cultural arts organizations that use the new facilities prove they can sustain attendance, the City Council will try to do more.

Investing in the Harrington School would be extremely expensive because of age and safety issues, Barratt said.

Resident Dale Gunther, who is also the president of the Bank of American Fork, has been researching renovation costs — projected at $4 million — and believes the city should reconsider its stand.

"If they could give us (the symphony) $3 million, we would raise the other million, either through grants or private donations," Gunther said.

"The symphony is certainly a class act. It's one of the finest symphonies in the state. They deserve a good home," he said.

Gunther said the city of Riverton is currently renovating a pair of buildings for a civic center and city offices and one of the buildings is the same age as the Harrington School.