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Dunedin Art Center Gets Temporary Annex

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: September 21, 2007

DUNEDIN, Fla. - DUNEDIN, Fla. - Dunedin Fine Art Center can now draw on a short-term solution to its long-term problem.

Thursday night the City Commission agreed the nonprofit private art center can hold some of its art classes in a vacant building on land the city plans to sell to Pizzuti Solutions, developer of its Gateway property.

After the vote, George Ann Bissett, Dunedin Fine Art Center executive director, said she was grateful to the city for helping the center find the temporary space.

The center likes being in Highlander Park and would someday like to expand at its current building, but such a decision would be up to the center board of directors, she said.

The Fine Art Center is outgrowing classroom space at its facility in Highlander Park, especially for classes requiring a lot of space such as stone carving, according to Bissett.

Permission to utilize the city building on the Gateway land as a short-term annex offers temporary relief and allows the center to promote itself downtown to thousands of passersby, she said.

By next summer the Ohio-based developer will transform the city's 4.1 acre Gateway property, at Skinner Boulevard and Main Street, into a mixed-use commercial center at the eastern entrance to the Main Street downtown retailing and hospitality district.

City Manager Robert DiSpirito noted the art center has been looking for space to house some of its more intensive classes such as stone carving, glass making and, potentially, metal workings.

The temporary center annex, the former Izone building, is empty pending its demolition by Pizzuti Solutions sometime next summer. The developer has agreed the art center can utilize the building for nine or 10 months prior to demolition, the city manager said.

The art center, which is housed in a city-owned building in the Highlander Park complex, would be responsible for power, water, telephone and maintenance of the building.

Robert Ironsmith, economic development director, said while Pizzuti is expected to close on its purchase of the Gateway property in mid-February, its executives were in favor of allowing the center to use the space until the building has to be razed.

While the center will not pay to lease the property, its presence will attract many art students into the downtown who will likely visit shops and restaurants, Ironsmith said.

He added it is unlikely the center will be able to find a more permanent home downtown, due to the large space it requires and price of leasing such a big property.

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