City agency gives Salt Lake library architects a shot at Broadway-style theater

Even as they were building Salt Lake City's award-winning downtown library, architects Moshe Safdie and Steve Crane had eyes for another part of the city.

"We talked a lot at that time about Main Street," said Crane, of VCBO Architects.

On Tuesday, the Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency gave the duo a shot at designing and building what officials believe will be a major piece in downtown's revival: a 2,500-seat, Broadway-style theater on Main Street.

The RDA voted to negotiate exclusively with a development, construction and architect team that includes Crane and Safdie, to build the theater.

Garfield Traub Swisher beat out Hines Interests, an international firm that owns the Kearns Building in downtown Salt Lake City, for the right to develop the theater.

"It was very difficult to come to a decision," said community and economic development director Frank Gray, who sat on the selection committee.

In the end, officials said Garfield Traub Swisher's latest effort, the Durham Performing Arts Center, mirrored the Salt Lake project and gave that firm the edge.

The Durham, N.C., center has exceeded financial expectations, bringing in $11 million in contributions to downtown Durham in its first seven months, officials said.

"We want to sit down, roll up our sleeves and start working," said partner Greg Garfield.

The developers and the RDA will spend the next six months hashing out design, construction and financing plans for the theater.

Among the obstacles to overcome, officials said, are concerns from the city's arts community about how the new theater might impact existing venues.

Garfield said his firm experienced similar concerns in Durham.

"They had concerns this theater coming in might take some of the programming away," Garfield said. "We worked very closely with the operator of the new theater and the (smaller) Carolina Theater group to look at events they program. … There was virtually no overlap."

And when events did overlap, Garfield said, the firm was able to negotiate an agreement for co-presentation of performances.

Garfield Traub Swisher also negotiated a revenue-sharing agreement for naming rights between the performing-arts center and smaller theaters.

"I'm excited," Council Chairman Carlton Christensen said. "This has been a hole, if you will, in our Main Street fabric for quite some time."