Interoffice Memorandum
DATE: May 14, 2025
TO: Mayor Jerry L. Demings and County Commissioners
THROUGH: Carla Bell Johnson, AICP, Deputy County Administrator
FROM: Vicki Landon, Administrator Arts and Cultural Affairs Office
CONTACT: Vicki Landon, Administrator Arts and Cultural Affairs Office
PHONE: 407-836-3873
DIVISION: Arts and Cultural Affairs Office
ACTION REQUESTED:
title
Approval of FY 2025 Cultural Facilities Funding Recommendations by the Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Council in the amount of $5,560,187. (Arts and Cultural Affairs Office)
body
PROJECT: Approval of FY 2025 Cultural Facilities Funding Recommendations
PURPOSE: At the June 3, 2025, Board meeting, staff will present the FY 2025 Cultural Facilities funding recommendations recommended by the Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Council. (“Advisory Council”).
Background - Cultural Facilities Funding Recommendations: The FY 2025 Arts and Cultural Affairs Grants Program budget funds three main programs: Cultural Tourism Funding, Cultural Facilities Funding, and the Blockbuster Fund. These programs provide money from the Tourist Development Tax (TDT) collections for eligible arts organizations to promote tourism and to construct, extend, enlarge, remodel, repair, improve, maintain, operate promote or equip a 501(c)(3) museum, publicly owned museum, or auditorium. In finding a process that complies with state law for the use of TDT revenues and meets the Advisory Council’s goals of elevating Central Florida’s art and culture to that befitting a diverse, world-class community, the Advisory Council examined numerous criteria to make funding recommendations. Five members of the Advisory Council and four industry/field experts served on the Cultural Facilities Review Panel to evaluate and score the eligible applications submitted for funding this year.
After site visits, a thorough review by every review panel member and intense discussion regarding the impact to be made by these projects, the six organizations recommended for approval, totaling $5,560,187 are presented unanimously by the Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Council based on eligible score rankings.
1) Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens, Preserving a Legacy: Renovations for essential upgrades for the Albin Polasek Museum’s 65th Anniversary. The proposed FY 2025 funding for this project is $200,000; the total budget for this project is $300,000.
2) Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts: Winter Park Collaborative Arts Renovation Project. The proposed FY 2025 funding for this project is $1,000,000; the total budget for this project is $1,576,922.
3) Orlando Family Stage: Centennial Lighting and Exterior Signage Project. The proposed FY 2025 funding for this project is $350,000; the total budget for this project is $525,000.
4) Orlando Museum of Art: Renovation of Roof and HVAC Phase I, Part 3 Building Automatic System Upgrades. The proposed FY 2025 funding for this project is $970,000; the total budget for this project is $1,457,500.
5) Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation: Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation’s External Site Construction of Addition. The proposed FY 2025 funding for this project is $1,040,187; the total budget for this project is 1,638,295.
6) Orlando Science Center: CineDome Renovation. The proposed FY 2025 funding for this project is $2,000,000; the total budget for this project is $3,150,000.
Cultural Facilities Funding Recommended: The Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Council recommends approval of six FY 2025 Cultural Facilities Funding projects in the amount of $5,560,187.
BUDGET: N/A