New home for Ballet West announced for downtown Salt Lake City

Representatives from Ballet West gathered Monday with dignitaries and elected officials for the unveiling of the design for a new home for Ballet West next to a renovated Capitol Theatre.  The Jessie Eccles Quinney Center for Dance will house in one location the dance academy, rehearsal studios, and space for costumes.  Plans for the $32 million facility have been in the works for more than seven years.   Ballet West joined forces with the Salt Lake County Center for the Arts.  The new center will allow the Ballet West Academy to more than double its current student body of more than 200.   The center is named for a woman who loved Ballet West.

The ballet has raised $12 million and will need to raise another $6 million.  The county will contribute the remaining $14 million, partly through tax incentives.

Construction will begin in the spring of 2012, with a late 2013 completion date.  2013 is the 50th anniversary of Ballet West and the 100th anniversary of the Capitol Theatre.