Idaho State To Get Record Donation For Performing Center

Idaho State University is getting $10 million from the estate of an eastern Idaho agribusinessman, the largest gift the school ever has received.

The money will be used to build a performing center, the L.E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center. The school will raise the rest of the estimated $20 million cost through donations.

Thelma Stephens, widow of L.E. Stephens, gave the university $2.6 million of the gift in stock options Tuesday. L.E. Stephens left a total of $5 million to ISU. Thelma Stephens said she will leave her $5 million estate to the university as well.

The 160,000-square foot center, to be built near Bartz Field, will feature a 1,200-seat auditorium, two smaller traditional theaters and an experimental theater. It also will have classrooms, faculty offices and meeting spaces.

President Richard Bowen hopes to break ground by the university’s centennial in 2001.

ISU Foundation President Ted Crumley is responsible for raising the other $10 million. “We will go after significant gifts in the next several months,” he said. “I like to see something happen before the centennial.”