A unanimous vote by the Pinellas County Commission has ensured the long-gestating renovation of St. Petersburg\u2019s Palladium Theater will go forward.<\/p>\n
At their Oct. 7 meeting, commissioners approved the allocation of $2.5 million in Tourist Development Council funds earmarked earlier in the year for the 815-seat performing arts venue, which is owned and operated by St. Petersburg College.<\/p>\n
Initiated in 2022, the capital campaign calls for new seats, improved sight lines and acoustics, and other technological and cosmetic changes.<\/p>\n
Originally estimated at $10 million, the project\u2019s budget has increased to $13 million due to rising construction costs.<\/p>\n
Palladium executive director Paul Wilborn said about $10.8 million is in hand from private donors, the state of Florida and the city of St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we\u2019re part of a state college, you can\u2019t just build something on pledges,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe money has to be in an account that can be spent.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this (county) agreement counts as money, since it\u2019s an official government-to-government agreement. And that put us to the point where the project could be greenlighted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Built in 1925 as a Christian Science church, the 7,000-square-foot Palladium is on the Register of Historic Places. It has been operated by St. Petersburg College since 2007.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came into the capital campaign knowing it really needed to be done,\u201d Wilborn said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been very successful, but we were limited in that we were a church with a stage, essentially. People didn\u2019t like the seats; people didn\u2019t like the sound when it was heavily amplified. \u2026 We\u2019re addressing all that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilborn\u2019s original renovation plan included several items that had to be rescinded due to rising costs. Among them: Raising the performance stage and installing an acoustic orchestra shell. He believes the withdrawn items \u2014 and perhaps even more \u2014 can be added to the list before the theater, and its 180-seat downstairs \u201ccabaret\u201d room, have to close for construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we raise more money, which we are certainly going to do, we\u2019re continuing to push forward, trying to do as much as we can to do this all in one fell swoop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Raising enough launch capital was Phase 1 of the project.<\/p>\n
Phase 2 \u2014 the nuts, bolts and myriad contracts of the renovation \u2014 will be out of Wilborn\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cSPC has folks that do that,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just had to show them enough money to get this project going.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s estimated that eight to 12 months will pass before the first hammer will fall. The theater will close for approximately one year.<\/p>\n
John Collins, the former director of the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, has been part of the renovation project team since the beginning. Although he resides in Annapolis, Maryland, Collins is on the phone and on Zoom with Wilborn daily. And he visits St. Petersburg often.<\/p>\n
\u201cI absolutely believe in Paul\u2019s vision for what the Palladium transformation can be,\u201d Collins said. \u201cAnd I think there\u2019s an art and a science to a capital campaign. That\u2019s been my experience for many, many years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilborn, a writer, musician and former journalist, has been with the Palladium since the earliest days of the college\u2019s ownership.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not a fundraiser,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just not in my history. So it was kind of daunting and scary. And there were a lot of nights where I would wake up and say, \u2018Why did we choose to do this?\u2019 What kept me going was that I ultimately believed it needed to be done.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s gratifying is that the community has responded. The city stepped up. The state stepped up. The county has stepped up. Private donors have stepped up. And they said, \u2018We believe in what you\u2019re doing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n