Future of Bob Carr uncertain but costly
No clear vision on what the long-serving, aging theater’s next act will be
“It’s going to need some major capital investment.”
Orlando’s chief venues officer
Allen Johnson,
When the Dr. Phillips Center’s new Steinmetz Hall opens in 2020, what will become of the long-serving — and frequently maligned — Bob Carr Theater?
Officials at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts have expressed interest in continuing to run the building as a theater. The city, which owns the structure, says there could be a variety of uses for the brick-and-glass landmark, located northwest of downtown in the midst of the burgeoning Creative Village project.
Two things are certain: The aging structure needs a sizable infusion of cash to remain viable. And, as a split City Council vote showed last week, no one has a clear vision yet as to what exactly the Carr’s next act will be.
“There’s been a lot of discussion at our level,” said Allen Johnson, the city’s chief venues officer. “There’s been no decision made.”
The issue arose again last week
when Orlando City Council voted to renew a five-year operating agreement of the Bob Carr with the downtown arts center. Since 2014, staff from the Dr. Phillips Center have run the older theater for the city; that agreement was set to expire at the end of the month.
With two dissensions, city commissioners agreed to extend the arrangement until June 30, 2021, with an optional six-month extension past that date.
By then, if all goes according to plan, the Dr. Phillips Center’s Steinmetz Hall will have been open for nearly a year. Originally, the 93-year-old Bob Carr had been destined for the wrecking ball when the arts center was completed, but in 2013, the developer and architect behind the Creative Village project said they could envision a place for the structure in their high-tech and education-focused neighborhood.
Nothing in the Creative Village Master Development agreement specifically outlines the theater’s future, said a city spokeswoman, adding that as the property owner, the city will lead the decision-making.
Dr. Phillips Center president Kathy Ramsberger said the center was interested in maintaining operations of the facility.
“We would like to keep it for community groups,” she told the Sentinel this month.
Some local arts organizations have objected to the rental rates set by the Dr. Phillips Center; when the venue was under city control, fees were heavily subsidized. Complaints about rental rates both at the Bob Carr and the forthcoming Steinmetz Hall prompted commissioner Patty Sheehan
to vote against the operating agreement.
“This is our facility, and we should at least put in a cap on rentals for the arts groups as we move forward,” Sheehan said at the Aug. 12 council meeting. In her remarks, she suggested the city could consider having another organization manage the Bob Carr.
“I think we’re allowing a monopoly with no oversight,” she said of the Dr. Phillips management deal.
In a later interview, Sheehan raised the possibility of the city retaining management of the Carr.
“If they can’t make it affordable for our arts groups, perhaps it should go back to the city venues department,” she said. That echoed a remark by commissioner Samuel Ings, who joined Sheehan in voting against the agreement.
“I think it’s time, really, to bring that back in the hands of our venues department,” Ings said of the Carr at the meeting.
Johnson said management of the Bob Carr was handed over to the arts center to make it easier to schedule performances.
“The decision was made to let Dr. Phillips operate it as one cohesive calendar,” he said. “It gave them greater flexibility.”
The arrangement also helped fulfill an important condition of the original agreement between the city and the arts center: “The Bob Carr could not be a competitive venue to the Dr. Phillips Center,” Johnson said.
Built in 1926 for about
$175,000, according to the city’s Historic Preservation Board, the structure on Livingston Street was originally called Orlando Municipal Auditorium. Through the years it hosted everything from organ recitals to beauty pageants, dog shows and dances for World War II servicemen. Celebrities such as Andy Griffith, Liberace and Elvis Presley graced its stage.
As early as the 1950s, patrons and performers complained about the structure’s poor acoustics — a charge that has dogged the theater ever since. Despite a $2.2. million renovation in the 1970s and an additional $500,000 makeover in the 1990s, structurally the Bob Carr is showing its age.
The Dr. Phillips Center, which retains all revenue from the Bob Carr, has spent more than $2 million on improvements in the past five years, officials said. The arts center also pays all the operating expenses to run the venue.
Under the agreement, major improvements — such as repairing the notoriously leaky roof — are the city’s responsibility. There is no way to estimate how much it would cost to get the building into tip-top shape until its future use is determined, Johnson said, though the cost would likely be “significant.”
“It’s going to need some major capital investment,” Johnson said.
Ramsberger suggested arts groups might benefit if the building were to receive an influx of cash.
“If it had a good capital infusion, we could run it differently,” she said.
But for Sheehan, local arts organizations shouldn’t have to wait. She said: “I think we need to make sure the arts groups are treated fairly now.”