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Group wants beach music pavilion

Volunteers and Tarpon Springs officials like the idea for Sunset Beach, but finding the money will be a challenge.

By NORA KOCH
Published July 13, 2005

TARPON SPRINGS - Music on the Beach is looking for shelter.

Volunteers hope for a go-ahead from the city to build a pavilion on Sunset Beach that would shelter musicians from the elements during the popular free summer concert series.

"When it's a little bit drizzly or threatening, not only are they likely to get wet but their equipment can get damaged," said Marleen Gravitz, one of the volunteers spearheading the effort.

City officials are interested. Public Services director Juan Cruz thinks a pavilion would fit there nicely. But before anyone starts singing, someone needs to find the money.

Similar pavilions in other areas have cost from $30,000 to $200,000, said Gravitz, a semiretired real estate specialist.

If the Friends of Music on the Beach gets permission, Gravitz said the group will begin researching possible grants and soliciting donations from local music lovers and other potential users of a pavilion, such as the Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce.

The city could chip in, too. Mayor Beverley Billiris and City Commissioner Peter Dalacos both have requested that the City Commission consider funding the pavilion as a capital improvement project.

Dalacos, who often attends the concerts, said the pavilion would not only boost the safety and quality of the Music on the Beach program, it also would improve Sunset Beach.

"We have a beautiful asset there, and I think we need to expand on it so it's a more treasured jewel," Dalacos said.

The proposed pavilion, which is envisioned as a small open-sided structure with a roof, could be used for the city's picnics, and rented out for weddings and other functions, Dalacos said. If the city could benefit from the new pavilion it should help with funding, he said.

Cruz said he took a look at the site and thinks such a pavilion would work.

"If anything, it will enhance what we are doing there," he said.

For five years the city has paid about $200 to $400 a month for bands to play at Sunset Beach between April and November. The concerts are coordinated by the Friends, who plan the events, manage parking, staff a refreshment kiosk, sell T-shirts and collect donations.

A pavilion would improve a site already upgraded by the Friends. During the series' first year, performers had to look directly into the sun in order to accommodate electrical needs and extension cord lengths, Gravitz said. The Friends raised $400 to pay for an electrical post to fix that problem.

The free concerts always draw a few hundred listeners, Gravitz said. In May, more than 1,000 people showed up to hear the De Lei'ed Parrots, a local band with a tropical flair.

Nora Koch can be reached at nkoch@sptimes.com or 727 771-4304.

The acoustic group the Spells is scheduled to play at the next Music on the Beach concert at 7 p.m. on July 21 on Sunset Beach, 1800 Gulf Road.

[Last modified July 13, 2005, 00:10:12]