The Eccles Theater celebrates its 7th anniversary this year and is now a cultural destination in the intermountain region and a vital community asset for Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County.
“In addition to its cultural contribution, the Eccles Theater is a formidable economic driver in downtown Salt Lake City,” said Erin Mendenhall, Salt Lake City’s Mayor. “Since the theater reopened from the COVID-19 pandemic in October 2021, it has elevated the revitalization of our Downtown.”
The Eccles Theater, along with all other nonprofit arts & cultural organizations and their audiences within the Downtown SLC Cultural Core, generated $260M in economic activity in 2022, including direct expenses and event-related spending by attending audiences.
Salt Lake County Deputy Mayor Erin Litvack stated that “in addition to the post-pandemic economic benefits, the Eccles Theater has supported the revitalization of Downtown through new community arts and cultural events that serve new audiences and uplift local arts organizations and individual artists.”
Since 2021, the Eccles Theater has partnered with The Blocks to provide free programming to support Open Streets and Downtown activity during the summer. These events have increased public accessibility to quality arts experiences with over 30 free public events in the Grand Lobby.
“This summer, The Blocks, Eccles Theater and the Tin Angel Café at the Eccles presented a new series, ‘Stepping’ on Main’ with great results,” said Dee Brewer, Executive Director of the Downtown Alliance. “More than 3,500 people enjoyed 15 free Friday evening performances at the Eccles Theater.”
In just seven years, the Eccles has become an integral part of the heart and soul of Salt Lake City and will continue to foster artistic expression and economic prosperity for years to come.
###
Eccles Theater Economic & Cultural Impacts
Economic Contributions
- Eccles Theater represents a $140M investment into the community from Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, and generous donors to construct the theater.
- The Eccles Theater has generated $6.1M in tax revenue from over $79M of ticket sales since the Grand Opening in October 2016.
- Since reopening in October 2021, Eccles has hosted nearly 700,000 patrons at 535 events. This is nearly 40% of the total guests since the Grand Opening in 2016.
- Broadway at the Eccles productions alone have served over 1.3M patrons and created more than $475M in economic impact in the seven years since Eccles Theater opened.
- Especially since the theater reopened, Eccles Theater has led in Broadway season subscriptions and renewals nationwide.
Cultural Contributions
- In 2021, the Eccles Theater launched Salt Lake Speaks and Salt Lake Beats, a series of unique, low-barrier summer experiences to new audiences in nontraditional spaces.
- These include free pop-up concerts on McCarthey Plaza and free evenings of poetry by local spoken word artists in the Grand Lobby.
- In 2023, Speaks and Beats events drew nearly 1,300 patrons and provided paid performance opportunities to 65 local artists.
- Regent Street Black Box at Eccles Theater directly supports four local nonprofit art organizations with its Residency Program.
- The Program provides performance space and scheduling stability, which allows the Residents to focus on their artistic and creative excellence.
- Arts for All, the Eccles Theater arts accessibility program has distributed 9,800 free tickets to qualified Salt Lake County residents to see amazing performances in Delta Hall that they otherwise may not have had the chance to attend.
- The program launched in 2018 and includes tickets to Broadway performances and Live at the Eccles events.