“I feel fully confident that we will not see the ultimate or final end of either the town or the legacies of the Borax company or Marta Becket,” he said.Ĭonboy also believes the historical nature and magic of the location, and the legacy of Marta Becket, draws people to the Amargosa Opera House and Death Valley Junction, and that they will be drawn back again. “Marta weathered many storms and many of the vicissitudes of drought and flood and lean times, but she never experienced anything quite like this,” he said.Įven though the opera house is navigating unchartered waters, Conboy believes Becket's desert dream will live on. The town's latest survival story was created by Becket and her dedication to the spot. “As soon as there is optimism and people are feeling safe, we think that that will return, but 'when' is all very uncertain,” he said.Ĭonboy noted that Death Valley Junction has been thought dead several times - when the Pacific Coast Borax company left when the railroad tracks were removed when the hotel started losing customers - but each time it has survived. Most of the opera house's summertime tourists come from Europe. Like everyone else on the planet, Conboy is hopeful a vaccine will make a big difference. “If all goes well, we’ll be able to stretch this out for maybe six months or longer at the current pace of expense,” Conboy said. The nonprofit has raised about $35,000 through the GoFundMe page, but its goal is $68,000.įor right now, the hotel, cafe and opera house are surviving on the resources they have coming in, some money from film projects being done there and some private funding. While it sounds like a healthy amount, the opera house's expenses run about $10,000 a month, Conboy said, which drained their PPP money, crowdfunded donations and reserve fund quickly as the pandemic wore on. When payroll protection funds became available from the federal government at the beginning of the pandemic, the nonprofit applied for them, and it launched the Amargosa Opera House Go Fund Me page. Conboy said before the pandemic the opera house had put together about $90,000 in reserve funds.
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