Foundation History
Harry W. Morrison
The creation of the Morrison Center Endowment Foundation (MCEF) began with Harry Morrison’s dream to build a world class performing arts center in Idaho. When Mr. Morrison, co-founder of the Morrison Knudsen Company, traveled to New York, he went to Broadway shows, My Fair Lady being his favorite. He regretted that people in Boise could never see such a production because they didn’t have a proper hall.
In 1959, after many years of saying, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to build something like that in Boise?”, Mr. Morrison set aside 19 acres in Ann Morrison Park for the construction of a performing arts center. Upon his death in 1971, Mr. Morrison left $3.5 million dedicated to the construction of such a building.
The dream continued with his widow, Velma V. Morrison, and other active community members such as Ralph Comstock and Fred Norman. In the mid 1970's, two bond elections were held in an effort to raise sufficient funds for the construction of a building. Both bond initiatives were defeated by narrow margins.
In 1978, Dr. John Keiser, the newly appointed President of Boise State University, joined the effort. A University Community Arts Association was formed to promote building the performing arts center on the campus of Boise State University in conjunction with a theater/music/academic facility.
Velma Morrison in the completed theater.
With the combined funds from the original donation of Mr. Morrison, a donation from the Harry W. Morrison Foundation, as well as many other individuals, corporations and private businesses, $13 million was raised to finance the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts’ Main Stage. Separate funding was raised for the academic portion. Finally, in 1981, the groundbreaking took place and three years later the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts held its grand opening on April 7, 1984, with the entire facility fully funded. In honor of Mr. Morrison, the first show performed at the Center was My Fair Lady.
During the Center’s planning stage, Velma Morrison traveled around the US viewing other performing arts facilities. Over and over, she heard that the biggest problem for theaters was how to remain funded during the lean years. To mitigate this issue for the Morrison Center, John Keiser, Ralph Comstock, Fred Norman and Mrs. Morrison proceeded to establish an endowment, a fund that would provide for the ongoing
maintenance and operations of the Center’s Main Stage. The Harry W. Morrison Foundation matched, dollar for dollar, all donations to the Morrison Center Endowment Foundation, Inc., up to $2.5 million. By 1989, with help from individuals and corporations, the endowment reached $5 million dollars. The MCEF was instrumental in keeping the Center beautiful and self-sufficient for many years after its opening.
With new leadership at Boise State University, the MCEF transitioned to a different funding model in 2010. While still supporting maintenance and operations of the Morrison Center Main Stage, the endowment began to support the Treasure Valley’s local arts groups by directly subsidizing their costs to perform in the Morrison Center. The MCEF made another funding model shift in 2025 in order to support performances by local arts groups in all theaters in Idaho’s Treasure Valley.
Aerial view of the Morrison Center.