After regaining the theater formerly known as the Sundome Center for the Performing Arts earlier this year, ASU will continue trying to sell or lease the building when the real estate market improves, a University official said.

The goal of selling the Sun City West property, appraised at $7.2 million, is for the theater to continue to be used in some way, ASU real estate operations director Karen Honeycutt said Thursday.

“Right now it’s not being used, so we would be open to a sale or a lease,” Honeycutt said.

The University issued a request for proposals — offers for the property and a plan for its use — earlier this year but received no acceptable offers, Honeycutt said. Because ASU has been unable to find a use for the theater, which costs about $5,000 a month to operate, the Sundome has been closed since ASU regained the property in January.

Maricopa County returned the nearly 117,000-square foot and 7,000-seat property at the end of 2008 after being gifted it by the University in 2005 for a one-time fee of $10, when it was renamed the Maricopa County Events Center.

Before that, ASU owned the Sundome for 20 years after purchasing it for $1 from the Del Webb Corporation, the company that developed Sun City West, ASU Gammage executive director Colleen Jennings-Roggensack said.

“We did a great job for 20 years, but the cost of just opening the doors was extravagant,” Jennings-Roggensack said.

Under the ownership of ASU, the Sundome hosted a wide array of events, including speakers, plays and concerts.

Jennings-Roggensack said her own personal favorite performance and one of the theater’s most successful, was musician Bob Dylan’s performance in 2004.

“Bob Dylan was really wonderful,” Jennings-Roggensack said. “It sold out. It was really a multi-generational show.”

Tony Bennett, B.B. King, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers are among other artists that performed at the Sundome.

Jennings-Roggensack said one of the most frequent ASU groups to perform at Sundome was by Pass n Review, a group that played marching-band music and whose shows drew large audiences.

“They were very popular too,” Jennings-Roggensack said. “The community people really loved the shows.”

However, Jennings-Roggensack said she thinks an issue with the Sundome is its distance from the Tempe campus, on top of high operating costs.

Sophomore theatre major Lauren Finnerty, whose high school graduation took place at the Sundome, said she disagrees with ASU and does not think the University should try to sell or lease the Sundome.

“I definitely think they should try and find more use for it,” Finnerty said. “Even if they can’t fill up 7,000 seats, [ASU] might as well use it. It’s got a lot of space that would be really good for maybe a class to do a production in it.”

While she understands that the University has not been able to find a buyer or use for the Sundome, Finnerty said the venue should be used until a sale is made.

“It’s such a shame to see such a good venue go to waste like that,” she said.

Reach the reporter at snrodri2@asu.edu.