A group that for some time has been trying to build an Asheville Center for the Performing Arts is, in the words of the local daily, “scaling back.” Besides dreaming small, the nonprofit has twisted government’s hyperextending mantra into: Fund it and we will build.

“While we have received more than $5 million in cash and pledges from over 500 donors, we will not move forward until the majority of funds for this ‘right-sized’ $30 million project have been secured.”