This is the tale of two theaters in West Valley City—both historic in nature, of great importance to their social communities, and facing possible closures. For right now, that tale is going in two different directions. (See accompanying story about the fate of the Redwood Drive In).

On May 6, the city announced it would be closing the West Valley Performing Arts Center in September. West Valley City has been subsidizing the theater for many years, and as city manager Ifo Pili began working on the budget for the new fiscal year, he reported to Mayor Karen Lang and the city council that in fiscal year 2021, the city provided $600,000 in subsidies. In fiscal year 2022, that grew to $1.2 million, and is projected to reach nearly $1.6 million in the current fiscal year. In addition, he said the cost for repairs to the building itself are estimated to be about $7.3 million.

The next day, on May 7, 10 people from the theater community spoke during public comments at the council meeting, pleading with the city to work with them to save the center. The group organized a Facebook page that immediately grew to over 2,500 members. They also asked to partner with the city to find a financial path forward. Similar public comment periods for the next three meetings were filled with messages from supporters.

On June 4, the council approved a resolution to support the WVPAC and helping it transition to a community-based organization. 

“We’ve had conversations and meetings prior to this coming to the council,” Fili said. “What this resolution does is it permits us to work together with them, and coming up with that agreement means allowing them to transition to a community-based theater which would separate them from the city. It also allows the city to enter into an agreement that would provide subsidy for at least up to December 2025.”

Needless to say, its passage was met with vigorous applause from the dozens of attendees at the meeting.

“We wanted to bring it forth so we can all be working in good faith, so that they could find ways to make this sustainable,” Fili continued. “This resolution will mark the commitment for the city and the performing arts community to work together. At a later date, we will bring all the details of the subsidy back to the council. That will probably take a couple of months to get that together.”

“Changing West Valley Arts to a community-based organization and commitment to provide subsidy until the end of 2025 doesn’t stop the city from providing a subsidy beyond that time, but makes a commitment to work with this organization and help support them,” Mayor Lang said.

The building’s transfer means the independent nonprofit group will oversee operations and financial oversight for the center. That includes maintenance and upgrades to the building. Organizers of the effort to keep the theater open will now formulate plans once the city’s proposal for subsidizing is finalized, something we’ll follow each month in the West Valley Journal.

The theater’s latest production of “The Lightning Thief” closed June 29. There are two more shows planned for the current season: “Legally Blonde” running Aug. 9-31, and “Jekyll & Hyde” running Oct. 11-Nov. 2. λ