Tough times fall on Abravanel Hall

As he delivered a glowing report about the future of downtown Salt Lake City, economist Jim Wood had a few nagging concerns — one being the future of Abravanel Hall.

And as Wood considers how the hall's usage will affect the economics of downtown, others wonder how the sagging attendance figures will affect another proposed downtown project — the renovation of the Utah Theater.

The hall, with its gold-plated wall and stunning Dale Chihuly sculpture, has been a downtown showcase since opening in the early '80s. But lately it's hit on hard times, leaving Wood to wonder if increased competition for cultural dollars has hurt Abravanel.

"One problem is increased competition," he said, following a presentation for the Downtown Alliance this week. "There might be a limited amount of cultural dollars out there."

In his recent report for the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, Wood reported that the hall's attendance has dwindled from 300,266 in 1999 to 196,787 in 2004. Sean Toomey, spokesman for the Utah Symphony & Opera, which rents the hall from Salt Lake County, agreed that the symphony's attendance "was flat this year when compared to last year, halting a multiyear decline."

One block east on Main Street, the Salt Lake Chamber, Mayor Rocky Anderson and developer Rick Howa have been pushing a $60 million, taxpayer-financed project to renovate the old Utah Theater.

Existing arts organizations have worried about how the new theater will affect attendance at their venues. While Utah Theater proponents say the venue will attract new first-run Broadway shows that don't come to the Salt Lake market currently, opponents maintain there are only so many cultural dollars to go around.

Case in point is the attendance decline at Abravanel Hall. According to Wood's report, decreasing attendance at Abravanel has closely mirrored increased attendance two blocks away at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center.

Rose Wagner, which opened in 1997, saw its attendance increase from 11,132 in 1999 to 89,933 in 2004. That 78,801 increase came during the same years the symphony saw a 103,479 decrease.

If the Utah Theater bursts onto the scene, some existing arts groups fear people will take their cultural dollars there and forsake existing venues, similar to what happened with Rose Wagner and Abravanel Hall.