06/20/1979CITY COMMISSION BRIEFING SESSION
June 20, 1979
The City Commission of the City of Clearwater met in a
briefing session at the City Hall, Wednesday, June 20, 1979,
at 7:30 p.m., with the following members present:
Charles F. LeCher Mayor/Commissioner
Karleen F. DeBlaker Vice-Mayor/Commissioner
Richard E. Tenney Commissioner
Marvin Moore Commissioner
Also present were:
Anthony Shoemaker City Manager
Lucille Williams City Clerk
The Mayor called the meeting to order. The purpose of
the meeting was to allow the committee from the Performing
Arts Center Theater, Inc. (PACT) to make a special presenta-
tion of the plans for the theater.
Al Hoffman, Chairman, reviewed the history of what has
taken place, beginning with the donation of land consisting
of approximately 38 acres, by Kapok Tree Inn, Inc. on Decem-
ber 31, 1979. The committee hopes to be able to meet the
conditions of the donation. The project must be started
within two years. A committee has been formed with Commis-
sion approval and support. The City of Clearwater and the
Commission are in support of a performing arts theater for
community use and will make it available for groups at a
lower cost by subsidizing and assisting the theater.
Schematic drawing were shown to the audience and
Mr. Hoffman requested the audience make suggestions and ask
questions for claification.
Charles Rutenburg spoke in support of the center and
stated a rapidly developing multi-purpose building will make
Clearwater "The City of the Arts." Frank Lloyd Wright, Inc.
is the designer for this $9,000,000 project. The builder
will be Mills and Jones of St. Petersburg, Florida, and a
construction manager will be hired to supervise the project.
The architectural firm selected has designed the greatest
auditoriums in the country. Slides of other auditoriums
and theaters they have done were presented and each is unique
and designed to fit the particular site. The slides pre-
sented were:
Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona -
Showing continental seating, which is continuous
seating in the round with a wide area between
Veterans Memorial, Marine County, California.
Van Wetzel Hall, Sarasota, Florida.
Music Building at Arizona State University.
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Regional Art Center at Center College, Danville,
Kentucky.
Theater,at,Snn :Josc, California.
Civic Center at Bartlesville, Oklahoma - Will
be phased in from the year 1980 to 2000.
Slides of schematic drawings of the Clearwater site
show a berm constructed between the theater anu the resi-
dential area. The parking area will be landscaped and have
900 spaces in a garden area which will shield the view of
the cars. The grand foyer will be on a raised platform
overlooking Alligator Lake. All levels of the center will
be accessible from ramps. The main stage house is between
th~ seated area and the grand foyer.
The lower level will handle the technical aspects and
will have the dressing rooms, musical instrument storage,
music library, and a four stage lift area. The,stage will
be 100 x 45 feet and 32 feet high. The grand foyer'will be
on the second level and will have a refreshment bar, catering
kitchen. etc., and projection booth. The third floor will
handle the mechanical equipment. Banners will be placed on
the walls to provide better acoustics. The center will be
extremely flexible and the multi-purpose building will be
usable daily yearlong.
Citizen questions included whether there would be a
~ividing wall or a screen to partition off various sections
(this has not been decided); and the drainage has not been
addressed yet but the architects are aware of the problem
(they feel they have a better area to work with than the
one in Sarasota).
The uses and size of the grand foyer. - It will be 5.000
square feet, seat 350. and may be used as a banquet room, ball-
room. reception area, exhibition area, or gallery. It may be
used separately from the theater as a lecture hall, recital
hall. or small theater. Construction materials - interior wall
surfaces and ceiling - will be plaster convex (curved) and
metal walls; exterior bearing walls will be of painted concrete
block and stucco walls where they have broad overhangs.
A small groups theater to seat 200-350 persons has been
planned near the stage work shop.
There will be dense plantings surrounding the: berms to
reduce sound and visibility. The design pattern will be
subtle with no strong elemonts, but there will be unity between
the three elements. It is quite unusual to have a foyer and a
theater opposite each other.
Al Hofunan requested all those present contribute to this
$9,000,000 package which will be privately financed. PACT will
raise funds through the sale of revenue bonds of $4,500,000
and charitable contributions of another $4,SOOtOOO will be
needed for the total package. When the bonds are paid off the
City will own the center. The City will contribute approxi-
~, mately $400.000 to lease the facility for reduced rentals by
small community groups.
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6/20/79
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PACT currently has 700 members and there arc 150
organizations wishing to use the facilities. The cost to
keep open one night is estimatedto be $2,500. but this
center will meet the cultural and spiritual needs of the
community. ' .
The meeting adjourned at 9~00 p.m.
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