Florida Studio Theatre scores a marquee victory

Zoning codes can be written to cover most scenarios, but occasionally a project within it doesn’t necessarily conform to convention.

Such is the case of Florida Studio Theatre and its planned McGillicuddy Arts Plaza on two parcels it owns on First Street adjacent to its current performing arts facilities. The $57 million addition will serve a variety of uses, including a second main theater, two smaller cabaret theaters, a 125-space parking structure plus dining and office space. Included in the design are 24 multi­-family rental units and a 33-room hotel. 

Its primary identifying feature, though, is the theater space, and that’s where several requested adjustments were presented to the Sarasota Planning Board at its Aug. 7 meeting.

Photo by Andrew Warfield

In addition to an exemption to the code that will allow for parking in the second layer above the two-story theater space to provide a more efficient design and maximize the number of spaces, FST also requested a cut in the median on Cocoanut Avenue. That will allow patrons coming from the south to enter the westbound alley between Cocoanut and First Street without having to make a U-turn at Second Street.

In the spirit of Radio City Music Hall and the Chicago Theater, though, FST officials want the new theater space to be easily identifiable by adding extra signage to the exterior of the building, among them one that spans five stories in height. They include vertical building identification signs on the west, south and east elevations of the building. A proposal of an architectural feature at the top of the eight-story building will also include branding.

To representatives of the project, it seemed like little to ask for a prime downtown location that, rather than a longstanding cultural element could otherwise be another nondescript 18-story condo tower.

“We've been downtown since before the days when you could fire a cannon and not hit anything, and now everything's grown up around us,” said FST Managing Director Rebecca Hopkins. “We want to stay downtown, but in order to do that, we have to meet our needs, and we absolutely need this building.”

Courtesy image

Not only does FST want a second main theater building and two more cabaret theaters to meet patron demand, it also needs to consolidate housing, in affordable fashion, for long-term visiting performers and staff. The theater has provided that type of housing in single-family homes scattered around its downtown location. The hotel rooms will offer short-term accommodations for performers and will be open to the general public as well.

“We need this, and we need it to look like a theater district,” Hopkins said. “You go to any city in the country and you're going to see and know you're in a theater district. That's why we have our marquees in our existing theater. It's important that the experience starts from the second you land on property. We are part of the crown of the arts in Sarasota, and we need that jewel to shine.”

The Planning Board required little convincing that Florida Studio Theatre’s ask was reasonable and appropriate, with little discussion among its members before granting unanimous approval. The proposals, in fact, elicited uncharacteristic praise from the board.

“I'm excited about this,” said board member Dan Clermont. “It's fun to have something other than a condo building or apartment structure for us to consider. That, to me, is the essence of Sarasota and the direction that Sarasota needs to take. Many of our arts buildings are rather nondescript. This one is out there, so thank you.”

Said Planning Board Chairman Dan Deleo, “I'm a huge fan of your organization. I have been for a very long time. You’re a model of what an arts organization should be in this community, and this design really reflects that. And this plan, I think you guys did a tremendous job of taking disparate elements and marrying them together in something that's visually appealing and also suits your needs.”