$1.17M Arts Program Would Help Performers Pay Downtown Rent

ORLANDO-Mayor Glenda E. Hood is pushing a $1.17 million war chest for the city’s lagging cultural programs with at least $78,500 of that amount going to pay rent at Downtown properties currently leased by a mix of artistic groups.

At the same time as Hood opens her campaign to boost the arts, the University of Central Florida Foundation has named Centex Rooney Construction Co. as construction manager for the planned 350,000-sf, estimated $200 million Downtown Florida Center for the Arts and Education. A ground-breaking date hasn’t been set.

Hood wants her elected associates to support her nine-month Arts for All Seasons pilot program that calls for $500,000 being spent for operations and the same amount in capital funds. The program already has banked an additional $233,500 raised through an auction.