Salt Lake County fires theater consultant

Salt Lake County leaders on Wednesday axed a consultant hired to do a study on a county Broadway-style theater.

Duncan Webb, of Webb Management Services, failed to disclose that he already completed a similar study for Sandy leaders, who are angling to build the theater in their suburban city.

"Our goal is for this to be unbiased," said Erin Litvack, the county's community relations director. "We don't want at the forefront any preconceived biases."

County leaders first heard of the conflict Tuesday, more than four weeks after a contract was signed. Then on Wednesday, a group made up of local political, business and arts leaders recommended the county find a new consultant.

"The fact they didn't tell us clearly beforehand that they've done some other significant studies was not something I felt was starting out a contract with a lot of good will," Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon said.

First and foremost, the study is supposed to determine if a Broadway-style theater is even needed in Salt Lake County. Then, the study should show who should run it, should it stand alone or be built as part of a cultural arts district, and finally where should it be located, Councilman Joe Hatch said.

Webb might have already made a determination on many of those points in the Sandy study. However, the public can't find out because the study is still in draft form and hasn't been presented in a public meeting, said Trina Duerksen, spokeswoman for Sandy city.

However, Hatch said all you have to do is "read between the lines" to figure out Webb believes a Broadway theater will work almost anywhere in Salt Lake County.

The county had to get rid of Webb, Hatch said. If not, no matter what the county study determined, critics could balk. If the study said the theater should be located downtown, Sandy leaders could come back and say, "Six months ago you said this." And if the study said Sandy is the best location, the downtown folks would say, "Of course, Sandy paid for that," Hatch said.

"They are damned if they do, damned if they don't," Hatch said. "Anything they do, it becomes tainted."

The county study will be the third investigating the merits of a Broadway-style theater. In addition to the study paid for by the developer in Sandy, the Salt Lake Chamber funded a study in 2006 that said a cultural arts district, including the state's largest stage, could rejuvenate downtown.

But both of those studies had obvious agendas, Hatch said. That's why the county wanted to start fresh.

"We wanted fresh eyes that had no ax to grind," he said.

The final results of the county study will likely be pushed back another month.

County leaders are now trying to determine whether to put the study out for a competitive bid again, or just hire the consultant who came in second place during the last bidding process.

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Contributing: Rebecca Palmer

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com