Newsletter 157

NEWS FROM THE SUNCOAST

ARTS SCENE SCRAMBLES AFTER VETO OF FUNDS

Florida arts and culture organizations, still struggling to recover after the COVID pandemic, took another unexpected financial hit when Gov. Ron DeSantis eliminated most state funding for cultural programs. DeSantis vetoed nearly $1 billion from the $116.5 billion state budget before signing it recently, including nearly $90 million the legislature earmarked for 669 different arts and culture projects and for special line item programs. It is the first time that no money will be allocated for arts and culture programs by the state. “It is devastating. Unfortunate is too light a word,” said Richard Russell, general director of the Sarasota Opera, which stands to lose about $70,000 that was expected from the state grant program. “It is a lack of recognition of the economic impact that we have in our community and how much revenue we generate for the state.” Economic studies have shown that every $1 spent on arts and culture programs generates about $9 more in related spending. Jennifer Jones, executive director of the Florida Cultural Alliance, a non-profit that advocates for arts and culture programs in the state, said DeSantis may have indicated his intention to cut the arts money. His initial budget proposal to the state legislature did not include any funds for those programs. “In the past, there was at least a placeholder for arts funding of maybe $5 million. But there was nothing in the most recent one. Maybe that was a telltale sign,” she said. For decades, the state has awarded money to non-profit cultural organizations through a vetting process in four grant categories. This year, the legislature approved just $32 million in only two of those categories – $26 million in cultural and museum grants that support programming, and $6 million in the Cultural Facilities Grants, which provide money for building projects. Those totals were tens of millions less than the organizations qualified for from the vetting process. In the cultural and museum grants category, organizations can qualify for up to $150,000 each year, but this year the legislature allocated only 47 percent of that total. And even that was eliminated with the governor’s veto. “The cuts are a devastating blow to the arts and cultural community,” Brian Hersh, CEO of the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota, said in a statement. The cuts represent a $3 million loss in Sarasota County, where the arts are one of the top employers. “It is disappointing to see the state budget eliminate support for the arts across Florida,” he said. For more information on this story, courtesy of Sarasota Herald-Tribune, please click here:

Arts Scene Scrambles After Veto

FRINGE FESTIVALS PUSHING FORWARD

In the days since Gov. Ron DeSantis blamed them for his decision to veto $32 million in state funding intended for arts and culture organizations, leaders of Florida’s four fringe festivals say they have had an outpouring of support from their patrons and other arts organizations. But some worry that the governor’s decision could mean drastic changes in how money is allocated in the future and whether they should even apply for funding if it will jeopardize money for hundreds of other organizations. Before he signed the state’s $116.5 billion budget in June, DeSantis cut nearly $1 billion in funding, including two line items geared to arts programs and supporting some arts-related construction projects. It was the first time in recent memory that arts funding was totally slashed in the state. A week later, he said the veto was triggered because of programs like fringe festivals. “We didn’t have control over how it was being given,” DeSantis said at the news conference. “So you’re having your tax dollars being given in grants to things like the fringe festival, which is a sexual festival where they’re doing all this stuff. How many of you think your tax dollars should go to fund that? Not many people would do that.” He vetoed $26 million the legislature approved to fund more than 600 cultural and museum programs across the state, and another $6 million earmarked in cultural facilities grants for 15 arts-related building projects. State law requires the governor to either approve or veto all the funding. He does not have the option to remove individual grants. His decision shocked arts leaders across the state who count on the funding to support programs and staffing. The funding rules require organizations to match the state money. The “stuff” DeSantis refers to, fringe festival leaders said, is a wide-ranging assortment of theater, music, dance and other genres being created by artists who get an outlet for new types of storytelling and performance styles without a lot of institutional pressures they would find at more traditional theaters. “It’s so unfortunate that people potentially heard it referred to as a sex festival,” said Trish Parry, who launched the Tampa International Fringe Festival in 2017. “Fringe festivals are an excellent gateway to the performing arts because it’s really cool, modern, edgy work that people can get behind more easily without having a heavy institutional theater background.”

Parry describes the festivals as “the harbinger of the revitalization of theater across North America. I think most people aren’t taking what he said to heart. It might have been a genuine misunderstanding.” But Bill Taylor, the founder and artistic director of Theatre Conspiracy in Fort Myers who launched the Fringe Fort Myers Festival two years ago, said the governor “needs to educate himself on what a fringe festival truly is and what it brings to a community because fringe is for everybody. That’s the important part of it.” Please click here for more: Fringe Festivals Pushing Forward

COMMISSION CUTS FUNDING FOR 3 ARTS GROUPS

Following earlier rejections of citizen-panel recommendations for funding in social services and mental health, the Sarasota County Commission approved spending $2.1 million in tourist tax dollars for 35 arts and culture programs but only after eliminating money for the popular outdoor Embracing Our Differences exhibition and Chalk Festival as well as community radio station WSLR/Fogartyville Community Arts and Media Center. The commissioners also postponed a decision on whether the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County should continue administering the grants as it has since 1997, even after the organization incorporated many changes in the process requested by commissioners last winter. An alternative would be to have county staff oversee the grants. A small fraction of the county’s bed tax has long been allocated to arts and culture organizations to encourage creation of more programs and events to boost tourism and future tax revenues. This year, the county had $2.1 million available, significantly lower than the $3.2 million last year, which included extra funds to help organizations recover from pandemic shutdowns. Other portions of the bed tax support beach renourishment, sporting events expected to draw tourism, and marketing and promotion of tourism to the area. “We appreciate the County Commission’s support in approving these projects,” Alliance CEO Brian Hersh said in a statement after the vote. “This is great news for the arts and culture sector in Sarasota County. Although not all recommended projects received funding, we are committed to working with the county to make this program even better.” The vote came seven months after the commission called for changes in the vetting process to determine which organizations should be funded and with how much money, while allowing a one-year extension of the contract with the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County to oversee the application process. The ranking system was altered and two organizations – Save Our Seabirds and North Port Chorale – failed to meet the minimum numbers to qualify for funding. “I believe, unfortunately, that this is politically motivated,” said Sarah Wertheimer, executive director of Embracing Our Differences. “They have chosen to politicize the work we do though we are not a political organization in any way, shape or form. They have chosen to politicize human rights and human beings.” In rejecting the funding for the three organizations, the commissioners offered no specific reasons, though they expressed concerns about measuring attendance or participation. There was no discussion on the quality or content of the rejected programs. Commissioner Mark Smith initially made a motion to accept the grant panel’s recommendations for all 38 organizations, but no one seconded the proposal. To read more please click here: Commission Cuts Funding For 3 Popular Arts Groups

GROWING INVENTORY HAS MORE OPTIONS

The following is an op-ed from Duff Rubin of Coldwell Banker Realty.

Make no mistake: Florida is still the top relocation destination in the nation for personal moves. Additionally, companies that are often in search of a skilled labor force and more attractive tax options are also choosing Florida. According to fDi Markets, from 2019-23, Florida ranked second in the nation behind only Texas for the most companies relocating to the state. With the frenzied levels of residential real estate sales slowly reverting to pre-pandemic levels over the last year, this then affects inventory levels. Certain pockets of Florida are seeing higher inventory levels than others, including the metropolitan Sarasota region. Let’s compare data from Florida Realtors for Sarasota County from May 2019 and May 2024. Both have comparable inventory levels for single family homes (4.5 months and 5 months, respectively) and a similar median percent of the original list price received (94.5% to 94.2%). For condos and townhomes, inventory is slightly higher than single family homes, with 6.3 months’ inventory (compared to 5.7 months for May 2019). One surprising area when comparing data from these two months was just how much median sales prices had increased in that four-year time period. The data shows home prices have nearly doubled, with single family prices going from $305,305 to $530,000 while condos/townhomes had a substantial increase from $238,000 to $368,000. That’s amazing news if you bought a home or condo in the last four years! The Sarasota-Manatee region still has a great deal of interest as well as many new construction projects underway. Cash buyers are taking advantage of the opportunity to purchase in all price points, but particularly at the luxury price point. “We still have an active and robust market, with many buyers focusing on value purchases whatever their price range,” noted Matthew Day, Coldwell Banker Realty Managing Broker of the Sarasota Downtown and Central offices. “Movement in the single family residential real estate market, for both resale and new construction, has been good, with business similar to 2019 levels (pre-pandemic).”

And while inventory levels are higher in Sarasota and South Florida in general, having more options could be enticing buyers from other parts of Florida. Potential homebuyers in places like Tampa and St. Petersburg may find driving down the Gulf coast a short way will provide more alternatives for finding their ideal homes. Conversely, for those wanting a better price point along with more homes on the market, it’s very possible homebuyers originally looking in places like Naples, Miami and Boca Raton are giving Sarasota a look. Such data would be almost impossible to track, but these scenarios are certainly conceivable. Getting word out about increased inventory levels may very well serve to get some homebuyers off the sidelines. Those buying second homes often didn’t like the crazy pace of homes quickly going under contract or having very limited choices. Buyers who were not in a crunch to move sometimes got frustrated at having offers repeatedly turned down as they lost out to higher bidders. There’s more on this story here: Growing Inventory Has More Options

MODERNS THAT MATTER

In a rapidly changing community where old buildings often make way for new ones, Architecture Sarasota invited Sarasota area residents to help determine which structures they view as most important and distinctive. It’s the first step toward preserving our built past. “You can’t preserve or advocate for what you don’t know exists,” said Morris (Marty) Hylton, president of Architecture Sarasota, which set up the Moderns That Matter project. Over the course of months, residents voted on their favorites in 10 different categories. “Our goal was really to have this list of priorities that was informed not only by research and scholarship and our own assessment working with outside experts, but also hearing from the community,” he said. The top 100 is featured on architecturesarasota.org/moderns-that-matter and in an exhibit at the Architecture Sarasota’s downtown headquarters in the McCulloch Pavilion (which is on the list). It was “intended to identify iconic structures that give Sarasota a sense of place and character.” There were 580 nominations during the initial period from November to January. “Someone said ‘I drive by this building every day and it makes me smile.’ Some people wrote very passionately about the history of a place,” Hylton said. The Sarasota Art Museum got 12 nominations, while Rosemary Square and the Sarasota Bayfront/Island Park got 10 each. The newest structure was built in 2021. Votes were cast in 10 categories – civic, commercial, culture and arts, educational, multi-family residential, neighborhoods and districts, recreational, single-family residential, spiritual and public space. Each category has its own page on the website with a photo, a brief description and a map to help visitors locate them. In the Civic category, the oldest structures are the Nokomis and Venice jetties, created in 1937. One nominator said they represent “the natural beauty that makes this town so special at its core.” Payne Park Auditorium (1962), the downtown U.S. Post Office (1964), Robarts Arena (1966), Sarasota City Hall (1966) and Women’s Resource Center (1990) also are on the civic list, along with four fire stations Sarasota, Longboat Key and Venice built in 2020 and 2021. John Ringling’s mansion Ca’ d’Zan and the Ringling Museum of Art are among the oldest buildings in the Culture & Arts category, along with the Sarasota Opera House (1926), the Sarasota Art Museum (the former Sarasota High School building built in 1926 and 1960 and renovated in 2019), the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe complex, part of which dates back to 1926. Architecture Sarasota is giving special attention to the Victor Lundy-designed former Galloway’s Furniture Store, which is part of the Sarasota Art Museum complex. It was built in 1959 as a round glass building but was covered up during a renovation in the 1980s that turned it into a Visionworks store. A special exhibit at the museum about the history of the building and hopes to restore it opens July 28. Please follow the jump for more on this story: Moderns That Matter

ROUNDING UP DATA ON SKY-HIGH RENTS

Death, taxes and some of the highest rents in the country. The Sarasota-Bradenton area has become notorious for climbing costs of living in recent years, thanks in part to a spike in new residents flocking to Florida’s beaches. If you’re eyeing a move to the Sunshine State, beware that the price tag may cast a dark cloud over your aspirations. With data from sites like Zillow, Apartments.com, RentCafe and more, The Herald-Tribune rounded up the rents you can expect in the Sarasota-Bradenton area. Rent averages are skewed by luxury properties at the high end of the price spectrum, but most sites suggest an average of around $2,100 in rent for an apartment in Sarasota. Average apartment size varies among sources, with RentCafe calculating an average of 961 square feet and Apartments.com stating a 752-square-foot average. Bradenton fares a little more affordable, with an average apartment rent of around $1,900 among aggregated data sets. The reduced price tag doesn’t mean a reduction in space, with apartments measuring averages of 985 square feet, per RentCafe, and 777 square feet on Apartments.com. Zillow’s median rents of $2,158 in Sarasota and $1,921 in Bradenton are respectively 41% and 26% higher than its national average of $1,528 in monthly apartment rent. Both areas also consistently rank among the most expensive in the region on listings from Rent.com, Zumper.com and others. Rents for apartments in North Port and Venice fall within the region’s typical range, with North Port averaging on the lower end at around $1,600 and Venice posting an average rent of around $2,100. Those prices will afford renters an average apartment size between 701 and 933 square feet in Venice and between 798 and 950 square feet in North Port. Most apartment services post that the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Sarasota is between $1,700 and $2,100. An Apartments.com report lists the average rent at $1,800 a month, while Zumper.com calculates a $2,000 average and Rent.com posts a $2,200 average. A scroll down Aparments.com’s available one-bedroom apartments yields rents as high as $3,400 in downtown properties like The DeSota on Second Street and The District at Rosemary on Lemon Avenue. Few options are lower than $1,600. One-bedroom rents in Bradenton typically fall between $1,600 and $1,800, with both Apartments.com and Zumper.com listing an average of $1,600 and Rent.com calculating more than $1,800. Some, according to Apartments.com, are as low as $1,300, but properties in Lakewood Ranch and closer to Bradenton Beach can reach as high as $2,400 in monthly rent. Two-bedroom apartment rents in Sarasota fall mostly between $2,200 and $2,600, with some as low as $1,800 and as high as $3,500. Bradenton posts a slightly lower average, with most sites reporting numbers between $1,800 and $2,000. Rents for two-bedroom apartments in Venice are within the $2,000 and $2,200 range. North Port is slightly lower with averages between $1,800 and $2,100. Though rents are showing signs of slowing, Florida still posts some of the highest in the country. Sarasota joins metros like Miami, Tampa and Orlando on listings of the most expensive areas for renters nationwide, and nationwide data concludes that living comfortably in the state isn’t cheap. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator reports Sarasota County residents will spend a monthly average of $1,900 in housing — a number found among hypothetical combinations of working adults and children in a family. That means the average annual salary needed to live comfortably in the county is almost $91,000, and single adults with no children must make at least $46,000. Please click here for more: Rounding Up Data On Sky-High Rents

COMMISSION OK’s SOLAR AMENDMENTS

The city of Sarasota’s zoning code and comprehensive plan are embracing solar energy with updates aimed at regulating the construction of solar facilities. The Sarasota City Commission unanimously approved changes in the zoning code and the comprehensive plan that add solar utilities as future land use classification in certain zoning districts on first reading at its meeting recently. The move aims to regulate and encourage the development of solar energy production facilities within the industrial general and industrial heavy zoning districts. The additions respond to a 2022 Florida State Senate bill that mandated local municipalities to regulate floating solar facilities, which consist of solar cells atop bodies of water like stormwater treatment ponds, in their future land use classifications. The city submitted its guidelines to the state last November. Solar power is the fastest-growing energy source worldwide, and last year, renewable energy accounted for 30% of electricity generated for the first time. Florida’s solar energy generation grew 28% from 2022 to 2023, per a Climate Central report, and it produced the third-most solar energy of the states behind Texas and California last year. Solar facilities can occupy anywhere from less than 10 acres to thousands of acres, depending on the energy needed to serve the area. David Smith, the city’s manager of long-range planning, noted that sufficient space for solar facilities within the assigned zoning districts is sparse but that staff is open to exploring parcels in the county as potential construction spots. Though it’s unlikely Sarasota will host hundred-acre solar facilities, Smith said a general uptick in the use of solar power means the city will begin to see more facilities constructed with the new zoning and comprehensive plan amendments. The power supply will be more clean energy if you have solar utilities,” Smith said. “Things are moving toward solar power.” Almost half of the parcels in the industrial zoning districts are located within three miles of the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. To avoid harmful glint and glare toward the airport and other nearby neighbors, the new guidelines state that photovoltaic panels must be angled to avoid excess reflection toward properties or streets. The commission posed little resistance to the amendments, agreeing that they represented a significant step toward clean energy. Please click here for more: Commission Ok’s Solar Amendments

CITY GETS DRAFT PLAN TO DIRECT GROWTH

Sarasota city commissioners are considering updates to how the city will regulate development and construction for years to come. Sarasota’s Engineering Design Criteria Manual (EDCM) – which has not been revised since 2002 − is a “comprehensive guide to the construction and reconstruction of the right-of-way and land development” within Sarasota, according to a presentation to commissioners at a workshop recently. The new, 534-page draft for a new manual was created after city officials consulted with local developers, planners, engineers and public workers for the design of new roads, improvements to infrastructure or property redevelopment. It focuses on regulating subdivisions, street and drainage design, utilities engineering and solid waste. The manual does not touch on public transportation, parks and open space, land use and zoning, or building facades and structural requirements. City Manager Marlon Brown emphasized that the manual revisions are not finished, with a future public hearing planned. The city staff began to meet with focus groups in September 2022 on the revisions, including people who work in development, such as architects and environmental engineers; agencies such as the Florida Department of Transportation and the Sarasota County government; and with various neighborhood associations and community groups such as the Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations. Three public meetings were held between November 2022 and July 2023; and city staff received 260 responses from their resident surveys. Staff members also told the commission that after a recommendation from the city attorney, the platting process – the subdivision of property for official records – will be removed from the manual and left to the zoning code. The new manual divides Sarasota into seven “context classification” zones to provide “high-level planning guidance to the application of engineering principles.” Please click on the link for more: City Gets Draft Plan To Direct Growth

SARASOTA MEMORIAL RANKS HIGH FOR CARDIAC

Sarasota Memorial Hospital was among eight Florida hospitals recognized by Healthgrades – a leading online resource for people seeking health care options – in its rankings for specialty excellence awards for cardiac care in the U.S.

SMH was one of two hospitals on the Gulf Coast, along with the Downtown Baker campus of Naples Comprehensive Health, an independent nonprofit healthcare system in Naples, that made the rankings. The Naples facility ranked third in the state. The top two hospitals were both in Orlando: Advent Health Orlando and Orlando Health’s Orlando Regional Medical Center. Healthgrades recognized hospitals that deliver superior patient outcomes in heart bypass surgery, coronary interventional procedures, heart attack treatment, heart failure treatment and heart valve surgery, according to a news release. Healthgrades, unlike other hospital quality studies, evaluates hospitals on clinical outcomes, risk adjusted mortality and complications. The 2024 awards are based on statistics compiled from 2020 through 2022. Earlier this year, HCA Florida Blake Hospital in Manatee County and HCA Florida Doctors Hospital and HCA Florida Englewood Hospital in Sarasota County each received 2024 Patient Safety Excellence Awards. Also earlier this year, the Sarasota Memorial Hospital Venice campus was recognized by Healthgrades as a winner of the 2024 Outstanding Patient Experience Award, which places it among the top hospitals in the nation for overall patient experience based on nine measures related to doctor and nurse communication, hospital cleanliness and noise levels, and medication and post-discharge care instructions. There’s more on this story here: SMH Ranks High For Cardiac Health Care

SELBY IS WORLD’S FIRST NET POSITIVE GARDEN

Six months after opening the first phase of a major transformation of their downtown Sarasota campus, Selby Botanical Gardens leaders recently flipped a switch to make it the world’s first net positive energy botanical garden complex.

Officials turned on two state-of-the-art arrays of 2,158 solar panels that allow the garden campus to generate more energy than it uses. The solar panels, covering 57,000 square feet, were placed atop the new parking garage, officially known as the Morganroth Family Living Energy Access Facility or LEAF, and on Elizabeth Moore Rooftop Garden and Solar Array on top of the Steinwachs Family Plant Research Center. The top of the LEAF also includes the Drs. Andrew and Judith Economos Rooftop Edible Garden, where fresh produce will be grown to provide food for the Green Orchid restaurant on the ground floor. The solar panels are expected to produce 1.27 million kilowatt hours per year, enough to power 175 average American homes and to exceed the Selby’s energy demands by 10%. It also is expected to save Selby about $100,000 in energy costs and offset 975 tons of carbon dioxide, or what officials said is the equivalent of taking 211 cars off the road. It also provides the restaurant, operated by Michael’s on East, 100% carbon-free cooking with its fully electric operation. Energy production will be monitored over the next year for Living Building and Living Community Petal Certification by the International Living Future Institute to demonstrate the system’s effectiveness. There’s more on this story here: Selby Is World’s First Net Positive Garden

PERFORMING ARTS CENTER MOVES FORWARD

While getting to know people in the arts community, local elected officials and dozens of others in Sarasota, Tania Castroverde Moskalenko has had one primary goal in sight since starting her job as the new CEO of the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation. She was waiting for the Sarasota City Commission to approve a contract with Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the architectural design firm chosen to create the look for a new performing arts center intended to be the centerpiece of the Bay Park project. The contract brings Moskalenko one step closer to having something to show potential donors what the new facility might look like. To date, the foundation has used renderings created years ago that show a building with wings reaching out into Sarasota Bay that likely bear little resemblance to the facility that will be created. It also brings the foundation and the city of Sarasota, which have agreed to split the costs, closer to knowing the eventual price tag that was once estimated to be between $250 million and $300 million. But there are still a lot of unknowns, including how large the main theater will be, will there be a second stage, how will people move inside and what will happen with parking. Since joining the foundation in February, Moskalenko has been reviewing every aspect of the project before moving forward with specific plans. Moskalenko moved to Sarasota after leading arts and cultural organizations in Miami and around the country for more than 20 years. She succeeded Cheryl Mendelsohn, who was hired in 2019 and announced her resignation in early 2023. Moskalenko had worked as executive director of the Miami City Ballet, where she completed a $65 million capital campaign, and was most recently interim director of Oolite Arts, a Miami-based non-profit that supports visual artists. On May 20, the City Commission approved a $36.9 million contract with the internationally renowned Renzo Piano Building Workshop for architectural design services. The firm, which designed the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Whitney Museum in New York, was selected in June 2023 by a special committee whose panelists visited buildings around the world designed by the finalists. The vote followed public interviews with teams from each firm discussing their ideas. Though the commission had to approve the contract, the foundation board voted to cover the costs of the project design. “Until they start designing, we don’t know how much it’s going to cost, or what it might look like,” Moskalenko said during a recent interview. “We are sensitive to the concerns of the elected officials and the community.” Knowing the costs will allow the foundation to launch a capital campaign to raise its share of the construction cost. It has raised more than $30 million in the last few years, including $1.5 million at its most recent Inspiration Gala that starred Kristin Chenoweth. Jennifer Jorgenson, director of governmental affairs for the city, told commissioners that the contract can span over five years with multiple phases beginning with the design phase. She said there are “stopping points or offramps of this agreement” before the next project phase begins. If the city or foundation were to terminate the contract, Renzo Piano would be paid for whatever services were rendered to that point, plus a 10% termination fee. Please click here for more: Performing Arts Center Moves Forward

$2M GIFT, GRANT TO SUPPORT NEW FST BUILDING

Florida Studio Theatre has received a major gift toward its plans for a new arts plaza that will include three theaters, a parking garage, actor housing and rental units for other artists. Just three months after it announced the $4 million Maier Match Challenge, the theater has received a gift of $2 million from Cheryl Gorelick and Jake Ziegler. With the challenge set by Ed and Susan Maier, the gift is doubled to $4 million. The Maiers established a one-to-one matching fund of $4 million to raise enough money to name the new plaza for Dennis and Graci McGillicuddy, longtime supporters of the theater. The match is available through April 2025 or until the $4 million is raised. The $2 million gift was announced shortly after officials confirmed that FST will also receive $1 million from the state of Florida to support creation of new workplace housing in the project. The theater said it has now raised $41 million of the $46 million needed for the first phase of the project, which includes construction of the eight-story building, the opening of the parking garage and three stories of artist housing. Artistic Director Richard Hopkins has said that parking and housing are two of the biggest issues the theater faces. Three new theaters, dressing rooms, a bar and lounge, and other amenities will be added in the second and third phases of the project. The Maiers, who had previously committed $2 million for the project and will have a cabaret theater named for them, said they wanted to create a “circle of friends” who supported the idea of naming the building for the McGillicudys. Dennis McGillicuddy has long been president or chair of the theater’s board of directors. Graci McGillicuddy is active in numerous charities and is the former chair of the Florida Arts Council. So far the match has generated $2.6 million in gifts, the theater said. The building was originally expected to be called the Mulva Arts Plaza in recognition of more than $6 million in donations from Patrick and Mary Mulva. They announced in April that because they were moving back to Dallas for family issues, they were turning back the naming rights to FST after fulfilling their financial pledge. There’s more to read here: $2M Gift, Grant To Support New FST Building

SARASOTA-BASED PILOT REACHES NEW HEIGHTS

Sarasota-based engineer and test pilot Miguel Iturmendi set a second unofficial record for a multi-seat electric aircraft near Bishop, California, last month when he reached 24,000 feet in Helios Horizon. But because it came when a judge was not available to witness it, that altitude will remain an unofficial record. Next, Iturmendi will set his sights on exceeding 31,000 feet in Helios Horizon – likely in November – once it’s outfitted with longer wings, a larger propeller and newer batteries. “The project is not about the records; the records are to raise public awareness,” Iturmendi told the Herald-Tribune during a phone interview from Madrid, Spain. On June 11, he was in Amsterdam, where those new, longer wings are being made. Helios Horizon has enjoyed increased exposure in Iturmendi’s adopted home of Sarasota County, with representatives of the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County helping to make introductions, and the Sarasota-based Floyd C. Johnson & Flo Singer Johnson Foundation, through its president Diane Barth, giving Helios Horizon a substantial grant. Iturmendi declined to reveal the value but said, “Let’s say that it pays for the rest of the year. “It’s very significant.” Helios Horizon and other experimental electric aircraft are conducting high altitude research that aviation professionals hope can one day lead to the use of electric passenger aircraft – which produce 4% of all emissions worldwide – or cargo aircraft. By working with a team of expert volunteers and the backing of several donors, Helios Horizon has accomplished much on an expenditure of less than $500,000. “It’s a miracle,” Iturmendi said. “We’re doing stuff that other companies – they have tens of millions of dollars a year – we’re doing it with tens of thousands, maybe $150,000 a year.” Project Manager Javier Merino has met with local businesses that may either help sponsor the project or help with in-kind contributions. Merino and Iturmendi have also been talking with representatives of the University of South Florida. The university’s engineering school is working to establish an aeronautical engineering program that may eventually be located at the Sarasota-Manatee campus. There’s more on this story here: Sarasota-Based Pilot Reaches New Heights