Theater co-founders Mark and Sally Dietlein announced Monday they had come to an agreement with Sandy to build an upgraded facility on 11.5 acres close to 10000 South and I-15. Sandy sold the site to Hale Centre Theatre for $7.5 million at the same price the city originally purchased it.
At its current West Valley City location, the theater receives about 255,000 unique visitors annually. It has been operating at more than 100 percent capacity for the past two years.
West Valley City officials ended negotiations to keep the theater in the city earlier this month, saying they had made every accommodation possible and were doubtful theater owners wanted to stay and expand there.
Hale Centre Theatre approached Sandy almost two years ago to gauge the city's interest in having the theater there. The main obstacle in negotiations was finding a piece of property large and visible enough until Sandy bought the land in December.
The new theater will include three separate stages. The Centre Stage Theatre will have a capacity of 800 seats, the Proscenium will hold 700, and the black box theater will seat 300. The facility will also include spaces for receptions and business meetings, as well as expanded set design shops and costume rooms.
According to theater spokesman Chris Thomas, the expansion will cost about $65 million to complete.
The current West Valley City facility has one stage and 613 seats. The new main theater in Sandy will be slightly larger than the current theater with an additional row and improved legroom.
But it was more than just facility size that prompted the theater to make the move. Brough said the visible location ultimately led the board of directors to finalize a difficult decision. Deseret News
