Players Centre Negotiating Lease For Sarasota Auditorium: Report

SARASOTA, FL — As The Players Centre for Performing Arts searches for a new permanent home, the theater company will negotiate with the Bay Park Conservancy to possibly use the historic Sarasota Municipal Auditorium.

The Bay Park Conservancy, which is overseeing the development of a 53-acre bayfront park, manages programming at the auditorium.

The Players’ Center isn’t the only arts organization hoping to use the space, though, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The Sarasota Film Festival would also like to expand its year-round programming in the auditorium.

The theater group’s plans to build a new performing arts center in Waterside Place fell through in March when Lakewood Ranch terminated its agreement with the organization.

• Related: Plans For Players Centre's New Lakewood Ranch Venue Fall Through

Though city commissioners didn’t move forward a motion Monday to approve the Players Centre’s proposed lease terms for the auditorium, they encouraged the conversation about the space to continue.

“I think (The Players) is a really good use of the Municipal Auditorium, but I also am concerned about the agreement we have with the Bay Park Conservancy that anticipated that they would manage the facility,” Commissioner Liz Alpert said, according to the Observer Media Group.

“If there's a way for all of them to get together and come up with a solution that allows us and The Players to go forward as well as the film festival and keep it more flexible, let’s see if we can't have them all meet together with staff and figure out a way to make it workable for everybody.”

The CEO of the Bay Conservancy, A.G. Lafley, said he thinks it’s possible to find a way for both groups to use the space, according to reports.

“If we put our heads together, I don’t think it’s crazy,” he said.

In October 2020, the Players Centre moved from its longtime home at 838 N. Tamiami Trail in downtown Sarasota as plans for its new Waterside Place venue moved forward.

The project called for a 480-seat main stage auditorium with balcony seating, a 125-seat black box theatre, a 100-seat cabaret theatre with dining and a campus for The Players Studio.

The theater's move to Lakewood Ranch had been in the works for some time, but the COVID-19 pandemic sped up the timeline, Amanda Heisey, marketing director, told Patch in October 2020.

After moving from its former home, the organization continued to operate from its Players Studio in the Rosemary District at 1400 Blvd. of the Arts, and during the pandemic, hosted events at outdoor venues like Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and The Bazaar on Apricot and Lime.

In May 2021, while plans for Waterside Place in Lakewood Ranch were falling into place, the Players Centre temporarily moved into a space at The Crossings at Siesta Key mall.

Eventually, though, plans at Waterside Place fell apart over the costs associated with the project, Schroeder-Manatee Ranch said.

"The cost of constructing a state-of-the-art theater of the scale and scope planned for Waterside Place proved to be extremely challenging in the present environment and it was imperative for this arts organization to find a permanent home to relaunch its robust programming, allowing for its 92-year history to continue," according to the development company's news release.