Orchestra makes play for permanent home

It is giving $40,000 to the building fund for a proposed cultural center in Spring Hill.

By JOY DAVIS-PLATT

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 9, 2000

For years, members of the Hernando Symphony Orchestra have juggled Spring Hill and Brooksville performances, striking a careful balance among available dates at public high school auditoriums.

The itinerant musicians often serve as their own stage crew, setting up chairs and music stands before performances and staying late to clean up, many still in formal dresses and tuxedos.

But the group came one step closer to a permanent home Saturday night when it pledged $40,000 to the building fund for the Hernando County Fine Arts Council's proposed Nimmagadda Cultural Center in Spring Hill. The announcement was made during an orchestra concert at the Hernando High School Performing Arts Center in Brooksville.

"We have been greatly interested in the project since the beginning," orchestra president Lee Cave said.

The squeeze has been on for the orchestra, which depends on public schools for rehearsal and performance space, Cave said. Auditorium time is at a premium because the schools have placed an emphasis on bringing more cultural arts into school curriculum, he said. Also, traveling professional performers have recognized the high school auditoriums as good places to stop on tour.

"It's not as easy now for us to set up the concert dates within a couple of days of each other," Cave said. "In fact, it's not always possible."

This spring's three orchestra concerts are being held earlier than usual because of scheduling difficulties, Cave said, costing the orchestra about three weeks of rehearsal time.

At the new cultural center, Cave said, rehearsals would be in a dedicated rehearsal hall or in the theater rather than the Springstead High School band room.

Perhaps more important, the orchestra has been promised its choice of performance dates in the concert hall, Cave said.

The pledge money comes from reserve funds set aside from years of ticket sales and contributions, Cave said, and does not affect the orchestra's operating budget.

"We didn't know what we would eventually use the money for," he said. "But I can't imagine a better way to use those funds."

"We've been talking about this for many years," orchestra vice president Don Glasson said. "It's time for things to take shape and fly."

Barbara Manuel, chairwoman of the Fine Arts Council, agrees.

"This is what can happen when you partner up with people," Manuel said.

The council, Manuel said, hopes to raise $300,000 by July to apply for a state grant that would boost the total by $150,000. As of March, the board had received pledges for $175,000, but Manuel did not have updated figures on the total last week.

"We feel like we have a good chance of reaching our goal," Manuel said. "It's getting up there."

The center is planned for a 5-acre tract leased from the Spring Hill Civic Association south of Applegate Drive and west of Kenlake Avenue near the Little Red Schoolhouse.

The concert hall is to be named after its $50,000 benefactor, Oak Hill Hospital. On promotional items, Manuel said, the facility will be known as the home of the Hernando Symphony Orchestra.

Though he is pleased with the prospect of having a permanent home for the orchestra, Cave said it is important to remember the people who have dedicated themselves to the idea for such a long time.

"Without members who have given so graciously of their time, we wouldn't be anywhere," he said.

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