Orlando Philharmonic has big plans for Plaza Live
Expansions expected now that sale is official
Picture Orlando’s venerable Plaza Live with a front patio suitable for gatherings. An outdoor stage hosts musical acts. Indoors, new seating boost patrons’ comfort — and expanded, updated restrooms increase their convenience. An indoor-outdoor bar serves cocktails to guests, no matter where they are enjoying the venue’s amenities.
All this is likely to happen in the next few years — thanks to a deal between the city of Orlando, Orange County and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, which until last week owned the Plaza Live.
“We have big hopes about what is possible,” said Mary Palmer, president of the orchestra’s board of directors.
Last week, the city officially acquired the Plaza Live by paying off the remaining $3 million of the orchestra’s mortgage on the Bumby Avenue property, east of downtown. The Philharmonic had bought the Plaza Live for $3.4 million in 2013.
Selling off the Plaza Live is a turnaround for the orchestra, which six years ago trumpeted the acquisition of its own building after years of renting space. But a tight market for fundraising and escalating costs slowed plans to rehab the building.
In addition, the murder of singer Christina Grimmie at the building in 2016 resulted in a lawsuit by her family against concert promoter AEG and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra Plaza Foundation, the legal entity that owns and operates the venue for the orchestra. A settlement is in progress in that case.
The promise of money from the tourist-development tax made a sale the best option, Palmer said. And although a few board members took some convincing, said past president Candice Crawford, eventually a consensus was reached that selling was the way to go.
“The advantages for being eligible for this tourist-development tax money was too great,” Crawford said. “It’s such a gift. $10 million… no matter how much fundraising we did, we would never raise that much money. There’s no way.”
By law, tourist-tax revenue can only go to publicly owned buildings. Under a 25-year contract, the city will lease the building back to the Philharmonic for $1 per year, and the orchestra will be responsible for its upkeep.
“We really have all the responsibilities of ownership — without owning,” Palmer said.
The Philharmonic will receive up to $10 million from the tax, collected through a 6 percent surcharge placed on overnight hotel stays in Orange County. The first $3 million will be used to fund the city’s purchase. The remaining money is expected after the Philharmonic firms up its renovation plans.
Renovations are sorely needed on the building, which opened in 1963 as a movie house and was known for its rocking chairs. The Philharmonic already has poured $4.5 million into the building, Crawford said, on projects such as remaking the venue’s smaller theater and replacing the heating and air-conditioning system. A new roof is in the works.
Even as more extensive work looms, this season’s patrons will notice new seats in the main theater; they are temporary until more permanent concert hall-style seats can be found, Crawford said.
But the influx of tourist-tax cash will bring changes that go beyond the cosmetic.