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Business Outlook 2006

Arts venues are undergoing resculpturing

Two live-show theaters and the premier art exhibition space all have embarked on extensive remakes inside and out.

By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
Published February 19, 2006

As Pasco County's population continues to grow, its entertainment venues continue to grow stronger.

This manifests itself in upgrades and improvements in appearance and function at several venues:

Pasco's only professional theater, the Show Palace Dinner Theatre, did extensive remodeling in 2005.

The county's main public art exhibition site, the Pasco Fine Arts Council's gallery and teaching center, plans to refurbish its facility this year.

The county's oldest community theater, Richey Suncoast Theatre, will continue the major renovations and revamping that started in 2000.

"We did major things last year," said Nick Sessa, co-owner of the Show Palace.

That includes a new, sectioned stage that can be refigured and rebuilt to accommodate the needs of each particular show; a remodeling of the executive and sales offices; new carpet in the theater; and a new paint job on the exterior and interior.

"Now we can concentrate everyone's energies here on the shows," Sessa said.

Even so, he said, "we're always refreshing everything, all the time."

That means new wall coverings and accessories in the restrooms, new merchandise in the boutique, and replacing and upgrading sound, light and special effects systems.

In south county, Pasco Arts Council executive director Marj Golub is busy planning refurbishment of the floors and walls at the center.

"I will be here 10 years in September, and we haven't done this since I've been here," Ms. Golub said. "It's time we do."

Among the plans are refinishing the floors in all three galleries - being careful, of course, to preserve as much as possible the stylized star motifs in each room.

For the first time in at least a decade, the galleries will be closed all of June while the work is done.

"We'll be doing things we don't want the art exposed to," Ms. Golub said. "We will continue classes (upstairs and downstairs), but we want to keep the art out of harm's way."

The work has been timed around the center's traditional exhibits. "ArtBeat," the high school art show, will be in March; "Art Annual 2006," the judged community art exhibition, will be in July and August; and "Holiday House" will be in November and December.

The current exhibit by the art faculty of St. Petersburg College will continue to the end of February. In April and May, a new show, "Wicked Good Art," will feature three female artists from New England.

In September and October, the center will again exhibit the sculptures of the late Russian artist Vladimir Yoffe, which were donated to the center in early 1997 when Yoffe became ill and entered an assisted living facility.

"We have this wonderful collection, and we haven't put out all the pieces for years," Ms. Golub said. "It's about time we do."

Meanwhile, the board at Richey Suncoast is working closely with a designer-architect on restoring the theater's interior.

Since 2000, the theater has added a crystal chandelier in the lobby and an enhanced sound system with personal microphones; recovered the dome on the roof in a faux gold leaf; painted the exterior; built in sub-balconies for the sound and light systems; remodeled the ticket booth; added art deco signage outside and inside; refurbished the display cases outside; expanded the stage area; and made major changes to the ticketing system.

Now, board president Charlie Skelton said, it's time to restore the auditorium to its former glory.

Across the county in Dade City, the Pioneer Florida Museum's board of directors hired a new museum leader after the departure of 15-year veteran Donna Swartz in the fall.

The new director, Christine Smith, 26, a recent transplant from Pennsylvania, hopes to increase membership and draw people from a wider area of Tampa Bay to the 45-year-old museum.

[Last modified February 19, 2006, 01:09:21]