S.L. arts center closer to reality

With $10 million in hand, directors of Salt Lake City's arts and science center, The Leonardo at Library Square, plan to ask the City Council tonight for $10 million the city promised them.

The Leonardo — a coalition of arts, humanities and science nonprofit groups — has raised $10 million to match a $10.2 million city bond from 2003 that the city said it would release when the group raised its share of the money. The $20 million is to go for renovating the old city library on the corner of 500 South and 200 East to include classrooms, offices, studios and exhibit halls, as well as for programming.

Even though Salt Lake residents approved the $10.2 million bond in 2003, with $10 million slated for the project and $200,000 for the bonding costs, the city has waited to issue the bond until The Leonardo raised its share of the money, per a formal agreement between the two entities. If City Council members approve the bond as Leonardo and council staff expect, it will be several months before the city can sell the bonds to raise money for the project, said Dan Mule, the city treasurer.

In the three years that it took to raise the money, however, costs have increased enough that The Leonardo's board of directors has promised to chip in an additional $5 million in private money, partly to cover seismic upgrades required for the building.

The group has two options for renovating the building. One would cost $14.8 million and the other would require $17.8 million. With the city's $10 million, the group's $10 million from private funds and the additional $5 million, The Leonardo could begin work on the $14.8 million renovation immediately, without additional fund raising. But the group prefers the more-expensive second option because it includes a $3 million, 11,000-square-foot addition on the Leonardo's north side, facing the new city library.

"We believe that the north addition is just a beautiful reflection of the main library," said Mary Tull, The Leonardo's executive director. "It does solve the seismic thing in a very elegant way."

Tull doesn't know who is responsible for selecting the renovation option. She believes The Leonardo will occupy a city building, and the decision-making thus would fall to the City Council, but she plans to ask for clarification at the meeting tonight.

The $14.8 million option would secure the building with corner buttresses outside the building. The $17.8 million alternative would rely on the north addition and walls along the south side of the building for extra support. The additional 11,000 square feet provided in the second option would postpone any need to add to the building, according to a report by Leonardo staff members.

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E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com