YEARS OF RDA LIES AND FRAUD AROUND UTAH PANTAGES THEATER ORCHESTRATED ITS PATH TO DESTRUCTION AND PAINT A BLEAK PICTURE OF A POWERFUL CITY AGENCY GONE ROGUE, ACCOUNTABLE TO NO ONE

GRAMA documents received from the city reveal a very different story than the public is being told about the options for the theater’s future

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – May 28, 2021 – Lies and fraud from Salt Lake City’s Redevelopment Agency around the future of the 103-year-old Utah Pantages Theater were recently uncovered that stretch back years that strategically orchestrated a “no option approach” for the theater’s restoration that denied reality and the greater historic theater preservation that is happening around the country. Not only has the RDA been keeping the public in the dark to the truth surrounding the theater, but there is also proof of direct lies to the City Council and now two different Salt Lake City Mayors. These lies involve the nature of the theater’s eligibility to the National Registry that would bring 20% tax credits in the tune of tens of millions of dollars, purposely inflated restoration costs, surveys and updated engineering reports that were stopped abruptly with no explanation, and an overall pattern of ignoring experts in historical preservation to actively deceive everyone for the sake of giving the publicly-owned theater away to Hines, a billionaire corporation for $0.

These revelations obviously extend far beyond the golden walls of the Pantages and into the very heart of our local city democracy itself. With a Redevelopment Agency gone rogue, elected officials are left barren, unable to rely on the facts from experts to make the best decisions they need to make for our city and our community. Public trust has been shattered by the proof of these lies and bring to light unsettling behavior from a city agency that controls tens of millions of dollars worth of publicly owned real estate and dozens of acres of land across the city. It is now up to the people, the city council, and the mayor to find the best path forward to stop this deal to destroy the theater built on a foundation of deceit and misinformation, rebuild an RDA that has the best interests of the public in mind, and repair the credibility of our fragile democracy that now hangs in tatters.

The full investigation can be found at: www.savetheutahpantages.org/investigation

And all investigation and GRAMA files can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/57abdyx3