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Letter to the editor

Hall to host bluegrass band

This city is proud of its new performing arts center.

By Sandee Davies, Times Staff Writer
Published March 2, 2008

Nestled beside the Town Square Plaza Park, England Brothers Bandshell and City Hall, a newly remodeled theater offers a mid Pinellas stop for local and national acts.

On Friday the Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center welcomes the Grammy-nominated bluegrass band the Claire Lynch Band to the 500-seat theater. Florida favorite Raiford Starke opens the show.

Pinellas Park officials thought it would be in their best interest to purchase the former Baptist church because of its proximity to City Hall and other entertainment venues.

"We felt it was important because if someone else bought it, who knows what they would have put there," said Pinellas Park spokesman Tim Caddell. "Plus, being the fourth largest city in the county, it was about time for us to have our own performing arts hall."

A 1,500-square-foot stage and deluxe sound and lighting systems were part of extensive renovations to a rundown 1970s sanctuary. The seating is not fixed in order to allow a multiuse facility.

"We look at it as a cross between the Coliseum and the Palladium," Caddell said.

The venue hopes to attract acts that cater to performers and audiences that enjoy the close contact of a smaller hall.

A local promoter rented the venue to bring Lynch and her band to the area, but the hall also works for plays, receptions or trade shows that require an open area.

The Pinellas Park Civic Orchestra will perform there at 7:30 this evening and the first Sunday of every month. The Sunsation Show Chorus and the Matinee Opera Players are also regulars.

If you go:

The Claire Lynch Band

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Performing Arts Center, 4951 78th Ave. N, Pinellas Park

Details: $22 advance; $25 day of the show. Call 571-4183.

[Last modified March 1, 2008, 22:38:38]