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A sound stage is an industrial use that does not belong on the bay front in the Municipal Auditorium. A sound stage has many requirements that are incompatible with the location and the Auditorium. The Municipal Auditorium is a historic revered public facility built in 1937 and has been used and enjoyed all these years by the public. A sound stage would displace many wonderful events that served an estimated 70,000 visitors and local citizens in 2009. Is there justification to take from the public the Auditorium for private exclusive use? 

The city commission between 1991 and 1999 spent a little over $1 million local tax dollars and $706,000  state historic grant dollars on a complete historic renovation. The City of Sarasota Municipal Auditorium was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.  I believe it is unconscionable, unthinkable to give that investment away for a nominal fee after such recent expenditure of our tax dollars. How can our city commission even consider it or justify pursuing a study of the idea?

I bet the sound stage users will bring in their professional people for production and maybe hire some locals, no guarantee just a big maybe? I also bet that the use of a sound stage as an economic development tool is not a full time proposition for Sarasota, sort of a hit and miss or to be used as needed. I even bet there is a lot of competition on the part of communities to bring filmmakers to their cities. Who will guarantee a Sarasota sound stage will be successful?

It is interesting to me that there is no clear compelling reason to turn over a well used and highly respected public space for an industrial use that could be set anywhere.   There are some very compelling reasons to walk away from the idea. Jeanne Corcoran, Director of Sarasota Film Office, identifies an example of one in her paper "Soundstages: Misconceptions vs.  Reality." First page point 1.1 under the heading What is a Soundstage?  She states “…and the floor must have a load-bearing capacity for the weight of vehicles, production equipment such as cranes, jibs, etc to be safely supported.”  A city engineer verified the hard wood maple floor of the auditorium was built to the specifications of public buildings codes standard of 200 pounds per square foot. It clearly lacks the ability to support a 4,000 pound vehicle which requires load bearing floor service of 1,000 pounds per square foot! There are other problems such as the requirement for loading dock and doors large enough for a vehicle or crane to enter. We all know those do not exist at the Auditorium. Wouldn’t those two problems be enough to cause our city commissioners to pass over the idea? Why are they continuing the “exploring”, what do they think they will find?

The idea of Sarasota becoming a major international rowing community is just wonderful in that it introduces a unique new business of great magnitude and shows off our community in a fabulous way. The proposed sound stage should provide a lot of benefits but not if it is placed in a unique, well used civic space that has its own economy and own job generating status….. an important economic engine that produces jobs and income for many in our city! Why replace jobs when another location would actually add jobs?

While Ringling College of Art and Design is held in high regard in our city and because of the community upset over the proposed loss of the municipal auditorium,   I respectively ask Dr Thompson to immediately withdraw the idea that has drawn the ire of so many.   

Mollie C Cardamone, Former mayor and city commissioner 1993-2001

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