“The Ocala Symphony Orchestra is poised to ask the Ocala City Council on Tuesday to lease them the city auditorium for 30 years for a permanent home for the symphony,” writes Susan Latham Carr in Wednesday’s (12/11) Star-Banner (Marion County, Florida). “If the council gives its blessing Tuesday, the symphony still has to meet the lease provision that requires it to have a certain amount of cash on hand before renovation of the 1936 art deco building into the Ocala Arts Center can begin…. to keep the project moving forward, symphony chairman Bill Nassal will begin interviewing architects and lining up contractors to do the work…. The symphony has raised all but about $400,000 of its $2.3 million goal for the renovation. ‘We are getting very close,’ [Ocala Symphony President Cindy] Van Heyde said.… Kevin Sheilley, president and CEO of the Ocala/Marion County Chamber & Economic Partnership, said the symphony is important for business retention … ‘They do such a wonderful job, and I think what they are doing at the city auditorium is wonderful to enhance our community and to be able to attract more people to our community,’ he said.” The Ocala Symphony currently performs in a variety of Marion County venues.
Posted December 13, 2013
