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MICHAEL VAN SICKLERSupporters of a New Tampa cultural arts center see a decision as one step forward, two back.
HUNTER'S GREEN - When county commissioners voted Thursday to reserve 6 acres for a multimillion-dollar New Tampa cultural arts center, they were supposed to have given the project the major boost it needed.
But rather than celebrating the vote, the center's proponents glumly conceded minutes afterward that commissioners did more harm than good - and may have unwittingly killed the project.
"This isn't very encouraging," said Graeme Woodbrook, the president of the proposed center. "We really need to ask ourselves if we want to invest any more time into this project. I'm still reacting to what just happened."
What happened was that Commissioners Tom Scott, Ken Hagan, Jim Norman, Kathy Castor and Ronda Storms approved Woodbrook's request to set aside land for the center. But they attached conditions - "poison pills," Woodbrook later suggested - that jeopardize it.
In exchange for the county-owned land near Hunter's Green, commissioners said Woodbrook and his group must come up with a $10-million endowment. What's more, the city of Tampa must give the county 10 acres elsewhere in New Tampa for athletic fields or pay $1.2-million as compensation for the 6 acres.
Tampa City Council member Shawn Harrison, who has worked with Woodbrook in lobbying for the center, said those two conditions will be hard to meet.
"This whole project has gotten way too complicated," Harrison said. "I think (Woodbrook) and the cultural arts board have to meet and figure out if they want to go forward with this."
Woodbrook said he didn't know if the conditions could be met, casting doubt on whether the center has a home.
"Quite honestly, I don't understand the hurdles placed in front of us today," Woodbrook said. "How did they decide upon a $10-million endowment when we still don't know what the scope of the project will be?"
The obstacles could be the death blow to a 21/2-year campaign to build an arts center in New Tampa.
It was an improbable turnaround for a project that until recently had momentum. Harrison persuaded the City Council last year to approve $27,000 for a feasibility study. That study envisioned a complex costing up to $25-million that would include dance, theater and visual arts classrooms, a 650-seat theater and a 225-seat theater. National foundations could help fund it, but two-thirds would have to come from private donors and government, the study said.
But last month, Commissioners Jan Platt and Pat Frank objected to the size of the center. Their concerns that the new center would compete with downtown's Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center helped postpone an Aug. 18 vote on the land deal.
Woodbrook assured the commissioners that TBPAC president Judy Lisi and Mayor Pam Iorio supported the project. He promised that he would get letters saying as much.
It turns out Iorio and Lisi supported a scaled-down version of the project, not the $25-million concept bandied about before commissioners.
On Thursday morning, City Council members approved spending $21,000 to study whether a New Tampa arts center is financially viable. But council members said they wanted to limit the number of theater seats to 350, at least in the first phase, so it wouldn't siphon business away from TBPAC.
"Why should people in New Tampa drive downtown if they can stay in New Tampa and go to the theater there?" asked council member John Dingfelder. "That would be self-defeating to the urban renewal we're trying to do in the downtown."
Woodbrook said the arts center would provide only community theater and not the professional shows staged at TBPAC. Still, on Thursday, Frank and Platt objected to the center and voted against setting aside the 6 acres for it.
In an ironic twist, it wasn't Platt and Frank who posed the greatest threat to the center's future, but two of its main supporters on the commission: Hagan and Norman.
Hagan, who is running for re-election, has touted the center as one of his main hopes for a second term. Even though Harrison asked commissioners to postpone the vote, Hagan insisted on voting for the land deal Thursday.
With that vote, Hagan placed before the center what may be insurmountable hurdles, Harrison and Woodbrook said.
Harrison said he wanted to postpone the vote so the project's backers could regroup and wait for the results of the feasibility study. Having convinced the city to spend $50,000 on two separate studies, Harrison said it might be hard to ask for additional assistance at the moment.
Hagan said he was surprised by Harrison's request to delay the vote.
"Shawn caught me completely off-guard by asking us to wait," Hagan said. "It was my understanding that the entire purpose of bringing it up was to identify land as soon as possible so they could start their fundraising."
He said asking the city for additional help was hardly out of line, considering that most of New Tampa is in the city.
"The city has made very nominal support so far," Hagan said. "We're talking about a significant contribution from the county of upwards of $1.2-million. It's only fair that the city contribute at least as much."
Hagan said the $10-million endowment requirement seemed realistic, but he said it could be negotiated later if it can't be met.
"I'm happy we at least got what we got," Hagan said. "This is just the first or second step toward a process that could take 10 years."
Woodbrook said his board will meet Sept. 14 to decide the center's fate.
"If this project ended tomorrow, everyone on this board would be pretty proud of what we've done," he said. "I hope that this isn't the end, but after today, it's a real possibility."
Michael Van Sickler can be reached at 813 269-5312 or mvansickler@sptimes.com