“The Sarasota Orchestra articulated its long-term vision publicly last week and, in the process, asked the City Commission to grant space at Payne Park for a new concert hall and related facilities,” writes Tom Tryon in a Sunday (3/3) editorial in the Herald-Tribune (Sarasota, FL). Tryon is the Herald-Tribune’s opinion editor. “Sarasota faces this question: Can the city retain the orchestra, an invaluable institution, and protect and preserve public assets? Orchestra officials and their planning consultants made a compelling case for pursuing an answer…. Most of Payne Park—including the playground, skate park and recreational trail—would remain virtually untouched…. There are good reasons to move forward incrementally. Eventual success would keep an important cultural and educational institution in the city, enliven an edge of downtown that largely goes dark after sundown, and efficiently utilize public assets. Just as important: The potential for the orchestra to become part of the park—and a greater part of the community…. Joseph McKenna, the orchestra’s president, … noted that although the priority is to create an acoustically superior space, draft designs of the building contain outward-looking features. Looking outward: Sounds like a fitting theme for the orchestra.”
Posted March 6, 2019
