PPAC receives a reprieve

The shows will go on at the Paradise Performing Arts Center, thanks to a six-figure donation from a posthumous benefactor.

Ginny Jensen, a Paradise resident who passed away last September at the age of 94, bequeathed $270,000 to the community theater. PPAC’s board expects the funds will keep the facility open for at least three years, though only as a rental venue for local performance companies. Previously, the PPAC also booked concerts and shows by touring acts.

As the CN&R reported last fall (“Gone Dark,” Nov. 11 Newslines, by Evan Tuchinsky), the arts center had been plagued by financial shortfalls and sparse attendance, prompting the board to shutter the theater. Its swan song would have been the BYU International Folk Dancers’ show last Saturday (Feb. 26).

The nonprofit group in charge of the PPAC stopped paying its mortgage in December but has been working with the lender, Rabobank, to renegotiate loan terms.