Multipurpose convention space is one possibility for Van Wezel

Among the possibilities for repurposing the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall is convention space, one large enough to attract meetings too large for the assorted hotel ballrooms and other venues scattered around Sarasota County and points nearby.

That’s why the city’s Purple Ribbon Committee invited Visit Sarasota President and CEO Erin Duggan to make a presentation and answer questions at its Sept. 10 meeting. Her response to queries about whether the city needs space potentially to attract larger conventions here was a definite maybe. 

Courtesy image

More likely, she said, would be a multipurpose facility that could also host performances and other events that seek more space than is currently available. To be successful, though, it would have to compete with the under construction Bradenton Area Convention Center — which can host up to 4,000 for a reception, 576 in a banquet setting and 752 as a theater. Also, to the south is the recently opened Sunseeker Resort in Port Charlotte, which can accommodate 1,500, 1,000 and 1,500, respectively.

Sarasota County has nothing close to the Sunseeker numbers, the largest venue being the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which can accommodate 1,200 for reception, 800 for banquet and 1,150 for theater. What neither of those have, though, is convenient access to downtown Sarasota.

The second-largest venue in the downtown area, the Hyatt Regency, is set for demolition perhaps sometime in 2025 as that site is slated for redevelopment. The Hyatt can host 1,000 for receptions and 600 for banquets in its 10,000-square-foot ballroom space. A new Thompson Hotel that will be built there will have a ballroom, but it is planned at 7,000 square feet.

Just outside the city limits is The Ora, which recently opened on McIntosh Road near Fruitville Road. It can host 1,000 for receptions and 700 for banquets.

None of those are big enough to host large conventions, Duggan said, which isn't necessarily Sarasota’s forté anyway. 

“I think our sweet spot in Sarasota County has always been kind of that small meeting. In fact, I would even say one of the sweet spots for us has been incentive trips, and during the pandemic, we really shined because of that,” Duggan said. “I think of a convention, you're looking for that big room where everybody comes in together for the keynote speaker for the breakfast session, but then everybody leaves and goes to the breakouts. That probably has been one of the things that none of our hotels have been able to do.”

Conventioneers, though, tend to want to arrive at their meeting hotel and stay there, but also want walkability when not in session. Excluding the Hyatt Regency, the largest hotels in downtown — Ritz-Carlton, The Westin and Embassy Suites, are all within a short walk of the Van Wezel.

Event Space Seating Capacities

During its March 2024 meeting, Van Wezel Executive Director Mary Bensel introduced the concept of a rotating floor, which can be flipped to allow seating on one side and a flat surface for event space on the other. That squares with Duggan’s thoughts about a hybrid events/performance venue that could accommodate the size of convention that fits somewhere between smaller meetings and major conventions that travel to cities such as Tampa, Orlando, Atlanta, Dallas or Las Vegas and require thousands of hotel rooms.

It also would provide a larger space for local events that squeeze into hotel ballrooms or shy away from the rates hotels must charge.

“I think something that would be multi-use would be best,” Duggan said of the Van Wezel when asked if a convention hall is a needed amenity. “We get a lot of complaints from locals who can't believe how much it's costing to have an event at the Ritz-Carlton or at the Hyatt. I sympathize with the hotels because those spaces are there to sell the rooms. … In a perfect world, hotels want their event space to be utilized by the people staying in their rooms.”

That left the committee with food for thought as it awaits the first update from Karins Engineering, which was commissioned to take a deeper dive into the building and its prospects for repurposing, one that goes beyond its 2021 structural-focused report. That update is on the agenda for the next meeting, which is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 10 at City Hall. 

The committee is scheduled to complete its two-year task and provide its recommendations for repurposing the Van Wezel, should it be replaced by the proposed Sarasota Performing Arts Center, in spring 2025.