Rendering courtesy Sarasota Orchestra

When I opened an article entitled “Sarasota Orchestra gets earful at Payne Park feedback session” my eyes immediately locked on the slideshow, including renderings of the orchestra's amazing and wonderful vision. Yes, amazing and wonderful. 

Those who wish to share amazing and wonderful visions for this community should beware when you engage in a relevant and necessary “feedback session,” you are likely committing to an exercise tantamount to a carnival dunking booth where the penalty is not just nasty water, but nasty everything.

I did not attend the “feedback session” held at the City Commission Chambers, but spoke to half a dozen individuals present and there was complete consensus regarding the content and tone of the gathering. At first, I was a bit disappointed the event was not recorded. However, I arrived at the conclusion perhaps it is better it was not. W hat was described to me seemed like a train wreck and a satirist's dream. It's even better when you imagine the scene in chambers and add an orchestral track. Say, “The Mambo” dance number from West Side Story, but with tennis rackets... Ah yes, Bernstein. I love that guy.

So what is the controversy exactly? You might say there are First World problems and there are First World problems but it's all out war and the stakes are high. You must pick a side. Are you for classical music or are you for tennis? Yes, friends, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, some 100 showed up for the meeting and they were mostly tennis enthusiasts there to speak against the orchestra's vision and do so quite ferociously. To borrow a line from John McEnroe; You cannot be serious. 100 people showed up for a evening meeting to lambaste the orchestra. That's about 97 more people than I have ever seen at a budget hearing. The message: Downtown is not the appropriate place for a concert hall, go somewhere else, and by the way, how dare you even suggest moving our tennis courts 300 feet.

Now that is amazing, wonderful, not so much.

To be clear, we are talking about a classical music hall next to a large city park. No drilling, fracking, clubbing of baby seals or drag racing is likely to occur as a result. Breath easy folks, it will not bring about the end of Western civilization.

The Orchestra, which has been here 70 years and employs 315 people, has been looking for a new home for a while now. As you can imagine, the list of available sites for such a facility is incredibly short, less than a handful if we are talking within city boundaries. I don't mind telling you, I am for them staying in the city. Big Time.

Tennis is great, I love that people love tennis and they love a tennis facility right in the middle of downtown. So here is the best part: they can have their tennis facility, newer and better than before. In fact, the Orchestra will build it for them. They said so. They are willing, and rightfully so, to collaborate and coexist with a current use to create a civic masterpiece. Thank you Sarasota Orchestra for your willingness to stay in Sarasota. Thank you for your desire to invest in a piece of our urban core that has been somewhat neglected. Yes, there is much to vet and many details to work out, but first, I say “THANK YOU!”

Water Quality

Kudos to the Sarasota County Commission for staying serious about water quality. At last week’s budget workshop, the board directed county staff to develop an action plan for continuous nutrient level monitoring. This is important for our water quality and a great opportunity to work with other agencies and institutions to better measure our efficacy of our policies. Hats off to Commissioner Christian Ziegler for getting out in front of it. Nice work rookie.

Paul Caragiulo is a former Sarasota County Commissioner and Sarasota City Commissioner.

Rendering courtesy Sarasota Orchestra