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Press Release from St. Pete Mayor Rick Baker
Concerning New Arts Center Facility
In a city where nearly every week an exciting new downtown development is announced, today's news packed a powerful punch.
St. Petersburg's Mayor Rick Baker today, joined by internationally acclaimed artist Dale Chihuly, leaders in the cultural community and an international development group, made what some call the biggest cultural announcement since the Dali Museum opened in 1982. On a prime two-block site on Central Avenue, plans were unveiled for a new and expanded art organization,
The Arts Center, flanked by the first permanent installation in the world devoted to the art of Dale Chihuly. Both are elements of an imaginative mixed use "arts village" development with condominiums, lofts, restaurants, retail and gallery space and more that is a brainchild of developer Jimmy Avarim.
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The significant facets of this development are many:
- The Chihuly Collection at The Arts Center, at 6,000 square feet, will be the first permanent home for Chihuly's glass art in the world. Dale Chihuly is one of the most recognized and popular artists on the art scene today, and has a commitment to developing young artists as mirrored in this unique arrangement with The Arts Center. Adjoining the collection, The Art Center's "Glass House" will be a demonstration workshop with stadium seating where 100 visitors can watch master artists create glassworks; studio rentals for artists; and an extensive education program for aspiring glass artisans. The collection's facility, combined with the expanded Arts Center, dedicates more than 17,000 square feet of art space to glass and creates one of the largest glass centers in the Southeast United States.
- An overall, two-block development that will include the Chihuly Collection at The Arts Center; a new and expanded Arts Center in a historic, former bank building; twin 35-story condominium towers (400 units); 55,000 square feet of ground level retail, studios and galleries with residential lofts above; two restaurants/bistros; and a pedestrian-friendly arcade with courtyards and landscaping. The development encompasses both sides of Central Avenue between Eighth and Dr. M.L. King Streets, between First Avenue N. and First Avenue S.
- The new Arts Center will be housed in the historic Landmark Union Trust Bank building, a 1926 Beaux Arts style landmark. In its new restored location, The Arts Center will have three times more exhibition space than at its current location (719 Central Avenue), allowing the center to attract larger, international exhibitions of contemporary art in all media. There will also be additional studio space for enhanced community classes in metalsmith, stone sculpture, painting, ceramics, drawing and other mediums.
- A solid, international development partnership comprised of Jimmy Avarim/BSR Group. BSR Group, with more than $2 billion in total investments, is an Israel-based luxury residential and office developer with projects in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Fort Myers, Philadelphia, Budapest, Prague, Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and elsewhere. Architects on the project include the Miami-based Kobi Karp Architecture; The Arts Center and historic bank building renovation is being designed by a local firm, Alfonso Architects, Inc., which recently completed Tampa International Airport's heralded Airside C. Occupancy is scheduled for 2008.
- An innovative philanthropic arrangement between the development group, the Chihuly Collection and The Arts Center, whereby a percentage of the proceeds from the condominium sales, admission fees and glass sales go to support The Arts Center's educational programs. The Arts Center Executive Director Evelyn Craft said, "Here we have business partners who recognize the economic impact of the arts on new commercial development. This helps assure the long term financial viability of The Arts Center by providing a designated earned income funding source for our future programs. One of the most exciting components of this partnership is the opportunity to collaborate with Dale Chihuly on long term educational initiatives."
Mayor Rick Baker introduced Dale Chihuly at today's press announcement, welcoming him back to St. Petersburg after his successful 2004 exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts that drew 170,000 in attendance in just four months.
"Today's announcement solidifies overnight that St. Petersburg has emerged as the arts capital of Florida. Dale Chihuly joins a very strong network of established arts organizations here that are a nearly $100 million industry in our community."
The announcement comes at a time of strong growth in St. Petersburg's arts and cultural community: Construction continues on the Mahaffey Theater for the performing arts; development plans are underway for an expanded Dali Museum adjacent to the theater; construction nears completion on the new Florida International Museum and the African American History Museum; Great Explorations Children's Museum has reopened in the renovated Sunken Gardens facility; both the Museum of Fine Arts and the Florida Holocaust Museum are pursuing future expansions; and Studio@620, an interdisciplinary art space, now joins a cadre of more than two dozen art galleries and performance venues in the downtown core.
