Ads for an Enchanted Village promise an entertainment festival. But the promoter has a questionable record, and now things are "on hold."
By BRADY DENNIS
Published October 30, 2003
TAMPA - The ads for the Holiday Enchanted Village began showing up over the weekend on local radio, the Internet and in the St. Petersburg Times.
They promised a 26-day festival with a Las Vegas ice-skating show, a European-style Cirque act, a Broadway dance production, an extreme sports exhibition, giraffe rides, a magic show, a midway with rides, a holiday display with 1-million lights and nightly concerts, all "for less than $20 bucks."
Among the musical headliners: Tony Bennett, Kenny G, Michelle Branch, Boyz II Men, Melissa Manchester, George Clinton and others.
The dates: Dec. 10 through Jan. 4. The site: the parking lot of the abandoned Tampa Bay Center, across from Raymond James Stadium.
Now, with 6,000 tickets reportedly sold, Enchanted Village might be doomed.
Disgruntled employees have called the event's promoter, Alfredo Beronda, a man of broken promises. His landlord says Beronda hasn't paid rent on his office space in months. And a bevy of public records reveal that Beronda has a lengthy past of arrests, money problems and bankruptcies.
Beronda insists he is an upstanding guy, an honest businessman who only wants to bring a cultural event to Tampa.
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Beronda says the Enchanted Village started out last year as a small project but grew and grew, almost to epic proportions.
"It got bigger and bigger and bigger as it went along," he said. "It should have been downsized."
He said he expected 200,000 people or more might visit the village during the nearly four-week event. Now, he has put it "on hold."
One person who worked with Beronda expressed skepticism that he ever intended to see the event through.
And even as others blame him, among other things, for the potential collapse of the festival, Beronda refuses to blame himself. He simply says there are "fires to be put out" and offers explanations for his past troubles.
"I have nothing to hide," he said Wednesday in an interview.
Records show Beronda has been arrested eight times in Florida since 1989 on numerous worthless check charges, as well as failure to return a rental car, probation violation, larceny and grand theft.
"Those are all irrelevant to the event," he said. "Those were years ago."
Civil courts haven't treated him much better. Records show he has lost a laundry list of judgments over the years to numerous creditors, for thousands of dollars.
Beronda has filed for bankruptcy in several past business ventures, though he is quick to point out, "I personally have never filed for bankruptcy."
He also owes nearly $1,200 in unpaid parking tickets since 1994, according to the city of Tampa. He says he doesn't intend to pay them until officials start ticketing police and city employees who take downtown spots. And besides, he says, there should be a statute of limitations.
"Give me one good reason I should pay parking tickets they never collected on," he said. "Back then I offered them a lump sum, and they refused to take it."
In addition, state and local records show Beronda has listed his name various ways on official documents such as leases, contracts and corporate registration papers.
"My penmanship isn't that great," Beronda said. "I just simply sign something quickly."
But his name is typewritten on various documents as Allen Verounda, Al Verondo, Al Varando, Al Veranda and Alfredo Beronda Padilla.
State records show Bay Entertainment Group Inc., the corporation in charge of organizing the Holiday Enchanted Village, is registered under A. Veronda.
"I didn't register the corporation myself," he said. "We had lawyers register it."
Three months ago, Bay Entertainment moved into a 2,800-square-foot office at 1344 W. Cass St. The landlord, Mike Tappouni, says he hasn't seen a penny.
"They have not paid their rent. I'm throwing them out," Tappouni said. He said he has contacted law enforcement officials and an attorney to begin eviction proceedings.
"We were trusting of (Beronda)," he said. "I used to try to speak to him, and he always had an excuse."
Not true, Beronda said. He said he has withheld rent - all of it - because the air conditioner is broken, the roof and faucets leak and ants, roaches and snakes roam the property.
"We gave (Tappouni) notice we are vacating," he said.
Likewise, a former employee of Beronda's said he came up with plenty of excuses, but never a paycheck. "I went five weeks without payment," said Mauricio Rosas, who said he quit on Monday.
Again, not the case, Beronda said.
"Mauricio takes a lot of medications. He goes off the wall sometimes," he said. "He was terminated on Monday."
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Beronda insists his business dealings, past and present, have nothing to do with the uncertainty of the festival. He said he has worked 15-hour days for nine months without pay to make the Enchanted Village a reality. He blames others for the delays that have left the event in jeopardy.
Beronda said organizers met with Mayor Pam Iorio, who organizers say loved the idea but she didn't want to overrule the Parks Department, which had shot down a proposal to have it at Al Lopez Park.
So Beronda and the group turned to the University of South Florida, which declined. They considered places in Hillsborough County, Tropicana Field and other locations.
Finally they got the okay for the abandoned Tampa Bay Center, though Beronda said of the Glazer family, which owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the lot: "They were great. But it took forever to get an answer."
Asked if the owners had indeed given their blessing, Bucs spokesman Jeff Kamis on Wednesday said: "It's legit as far as we can tell. We're on board to help them any way we can."
Several publicists for the performers, when contacted Wednesday, expressed concern when informed of the situation.
If the festival doesn't happen, it won't be the first time a show has fallen through with Beronda at the helm. He was the promoter for a free concert at Lowry Park Zoo in July 1987 featuring rockers Kenny Loggins and Sheena Easton.
The show was canceled at the last minute, as Beronda said then, because "the proximity fo the July Fourth festivities prohibited the involvement of a major sponsor."
Beronda isn't ready to say this show won't go on. He sounds skeptical, even talks about it in the past tense, but says he hopes to make the Enchanted Village a reality.
He said 6,000 tickets were sold over the weekend. But no checks have been cashed and no credit cards charged. Until his attorney or fellow stakeholders tell him to pull the plug, he said, organizers will keep taking ticket orders.
In fact, the number listed in the ads rang Wednesday night and a man answered pleasantly, "Holiday Enchanted Village..."
- Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.
