Van Wezel's future use study group to be selected July 17

In two years, an ad hoc Purple Ribbon Committee will be due to make its recommendations about the future use of the iconic Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. 

The Sarasota City Commission will select the seven-member panel from a field of 29 applicants during its next regular meeting, Monday, July 17.

The committee will be tasked with studying financially sustainable options, as well as the use, purpose and lease of the Van Wezel. The creation of the committee is a requirement of a partnership agreement between the city and the Sarasota Performing Arts Center Foundation — formerly the Van Wezel Foundation — as they work toward the funding and design of a new facility also to be located in The Bay Park. 

That agreement was reached in April 2022 to establish and define responsibilities for the planning, financing, design and construction of a new performing arts center, in addition to considering options for continued use of the Van Wezel.

During its May 1 meeting, the City Commission discussed and approved the composition of the Purple Ribbon Committee, which will include two at-large citizen members; one member with expertise in architecture in the design of performing arts centers and re-use of large public structures and buildings; one with expertise in historic preservation; one with expertise in civil structural engineering; one with financial expertise in the field of the performing arts; and one with expertise in climate adaptation with experience in FEMA floodplain.

Beyond the two at-large city residents, local citizenship is not required of the remainder of the committee, the commission placing a higher priority on expertise. The committee will have two years to complete its work.

Meanwhile, the city has begun the negotiation process with Genoa, Italy-based Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the architecture firm selected by a task force appointed by the city and the SPAC Foundation to design the new performing arts center during a seven-month process. That is a critical step in the development of an implementation agreement between the city and the foundation, which is due to be completed by November 2024.