Frankly Speaking Blog

Winter Park's Public Art Advisory Board is proposing that commercial developers "support the arts" by having the City charge them a small percentage of their construction project's value during permitting.  The idea is to help fund the Arts through development dollars instead of counting solely on private donations.  According to City officials, this could raise an additional $200K to $400K annually.

 

As a long-time supporter of the Arts I feel enhancing the town culturally will always be a big boost for attracting new residents and business to our fine community, however I'm not quite convinced adding more fees to developers is the best answer; especially if developers are already spending extra dollars enhancing their projects architecturally to meet local aesthetic standards consistent with the arts and culture of the community.  Are there other options for raising funds for the Arts in Winter Park?