OCR Text |
Show Panguitch, Garfield Back Arts Programs Both Panguitch City and the Garfield County School District were among government and educational officials in southern Utah lining up solidly behind Cedar City's proposal for an expansion of the performing arts as an economic thrust for the area. Endorsements for the legislative request for $4.5 million to build two new theaters in Cedar City which planners believe could funnel an estimated $17 million in to the southern Utah economy were also received from the mayors of St. George, Washington, Brian Head, Parowan and Kanab, as well as from Iron and Washington counties and the Five-County Association of Governments. Still other support has come from superintendents of Iron and Beaver school districts. . Cedar City's proposal would increase the length of the annual Utah Shakespearean Festival, a step approved by supporters as a means to increase tourism and thereby improve the economic basis of the area. St. George Mayor Karl F. Brooks sees the expansion as a boon to cooperative efforts to attract more visitors into the area, saying, "The City of St. George and Cedar City are working together to increase tourism; 'and it would seem that the Shakespearean Festival is one of the truly great attractions' to southern Utah. I am pleased to lend my support." Other votes of confidence come from Jerry B. Lewis, chairman of the Washington County Commission, and from Washington Mayor Robert A. Slack who notes that he and his city council are very supportive of efforts to "promote economic development through the arts." Similar letters of support have been sent to Governor Bangerter from Kanab Mayor Paul M. Jenkins, Brian Head Mayor Rex Emenegger, Parowan Mayor John C. Pendleton and Panguitch Mayor Jon Lee Torgerson. "We are convinced that any increase in tourism in southern Utah will benefit all of the counties in this region," Torgerson writes. Funding for the construction of two new facilities, an indoor theater near the site of the Utah Shakespearean Festival and an outdoor arena in the Cross Hollow area southwest of Cedar City, would be drawn from the State Mineral Lease Fund. Iron County has paid significant amounts into the state coffers, Emenegger writes. "Now that the local mines are closed, a refunneling of some of those mineral dollars into Cedar City are in order." |