"I could have danced all night," are words that echo in Velma Morrison's heart.

They were sung by Nancy Lee-Painter, who played Eliza Doolittle in the community production of "My Fair Lady" that opened the Morrison Center in 1984.

"That was such an amazing moment, and that was how I felt," she said. "It was such a struggle for so many years to get it built."

The Morrison Center will mark its 25th anniversary Saturday with a performance by jazz vocalist Sophie Milman, backed by the Boise Philharmonic.

Since it opened, the Morrison Center has become a community hub. It has helped change the cultural fabric of the Treasure Valley by bringing in world-class entertainment and providing a venue for the local arts groups.

Nearly 4 million people have crossed its threshold. They came to see touring Broadway shows such as "Miss Saigon," which features a helicopter flying in during the performance; and international musical artists, such as Itzhak Perlman, who sold out the 2,000-seat theater in 1994. Superstar comedians Bill Cosby and Jerry Seinfeld have performed several times for sold-out houses.

And some of the Valley's arts groups - Ballet Idaho, Opera Idaho, the Boise Philharmonic, Boise Music Week, Idaho Dance Theater, Boise State's Theatre Department, Trey McIntyre Project and others - have offered some of their best work on its stage.

Daniel Stern, artistic director for Boise Baroque Orchestra, was the Boise Philharmonic's conductor when the center opened.

That first month, he conducted the philharmonic's performance of Verdi's Requiem and a few days later, the opera's performance of "Carmen."

The stage brimmed with singers and musicians for the Verdi, a large choral piece. It was an impressive use of the space, Stern said.

"When you stand on that stage, looking out into the hall," he said, "there is a thrill that is incomparable."

The center's opening culminated nearly 25 years of effort since Harry Morrison, founder of worldwide engineering and construction company Morrison Knudsen Corp., first proposed building a world-class performing arts center in Boise.

Morrison originally wanted the center in Ann Morrison Park, which he built and gave to the city as a memorial for his first wife in 1959. That idea couldn't win community support. After his death in 1971, two bond issues for the concert hall failed, and the project seemed lost.

Then a compromise was reached to build the $16 million project at Boise State University, and the community quickly embraced it.

The center also houses BSU theater classrooms, rehearsal studios, practice rooms, the 210-seat Danny Peterson Theatre and a 200-seat recital hall.

The center has become part of the university's educational and community mission, said Boise State President Bob Kustra.

"It's a great showcase for the university and at the same time, a wonderful resource for Boise," Kustra said. "The Morrison Center is critical to providing this rich cultural and social atmosphere for our students and our community."

But the community's relationship with the center has not always been rosy.

Local arts groups haven't been able to use the center as much as they would like, mostly because of the cost to rent it and because local arts groups have a hard time selling 2,000 tickets to an event on one night.

There also has sometimes been a disconnect between the center's mission to bring touring musicals and performers to Boise and its use as a civic hall.

As a result, many local arts groups are using it less than they used to. This season and next, Ballet Idaho will do only half its performances at the center. Next season, Opera Idaho will not perform there at all because of expenses, said Executive Director Mark Junkert. The company will perform mostly at the Egyptian Theatre.

"The Morrison Center is a wonderful venue," Junkert said. "But it doesn't serve our goals just now. We want to expand by doing more performances and we can't do that there."

The center recently has diversified to include artists such as alt-rock-diva Alanis Morissette in November and indie rockers Death Cab for Cutie on April 25.

Are those a good fit? Center Director JanZarr says yes.

"That's what will make this center sustain its livelihood in the future. You'll have a rock band one night, the philharmonic a few nights later and then something else."

Dana Oland: 377-6442