Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs announced Friday that the county will pledge an additional $25 million to the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
That comes on top of the $138 million the county has already committed to the project.
All told, the performing arts center has a price tag of $500 million.
When the first phase is finished in 2014, the downtown Orlando performing arts center will be home to the Orlando Ballet, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, a 300-seat community theater, a banquet room and the 2,700-seat Disney Theater.
Jacobs said the $25 million in additional funding should not imperil plans to build a soccer stadium not far from the center. She told reporters that right now, the stadium proposal does not include enough money from the team itself. Even so, if the stadium were to become a reality, the performing arts center should not interfere.
Jacobs also said she hopes the additional funding spurs donors to take out their checkbooks and contribute to what she believes is a key piece of the effort to revitalize downtown Orlando.
This is an interesting public issue. Orange County has already donated a staggering amount of money to the performing arts center, so some question whether it deserves more. Publicly funded developments can help revitalize neighborhoods, making them more attractive to shoppers and hence to businesses, but it is hard to determine just how much public money ought to be spent this way.
What do you think? Is this additional $25 million a good use of public resources?
Sources:
- The Orlando Business Journal, "Orange County to give another $25M to DPAC," Susan Lundine, April 5, 2013
- The Orlando Sentinel, "Jacobs: $25M for arts center won't hurt soccer-stadium plan," David Damron, April 5, 2013
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