by Kent Jennings Brockwell
Staff Writer
Now that The Florida Ballet has moved into their new location on State Street, what will happen to their former home on Forsyth Street?
Susan Adams, administrative director for ballet, said she’s not sure what will happen to the 23-year previous home of the ballet now that the building has been sold.
Chris Hionides is the new owner of the building, and he said he’s not sure what is going to happen to the building either. Hionides said the sale of the building was finalized about three or four weeks ago, but he has no concrete plans for the building’s future.
“Once we renovate the building, I think we will see some interested parties,” he said.
So far, Hionides said no one has shown interest in the space, but he would like to see a small restaurant or cafe in the building. Plans to renovate the building are not immediate but construction could begin in nine or 10 months, he said.
Though Adams said the ballet had been in the building for 23 years, the ballet did not own the building until 1999. She said the dance troupe rented the building for many years before deciding to buy it.
“At the time it was the right thing to do,” said Adams. “(Buying the building) was a smart move on our part.”
The ballet put the building on the market earlier this year because maintenance costs for the property became too expensive and bothersome, Adams said.
“As a small not-for-profit organization, we had no business owning a building,” she said. “There is a lot of responsibility to owning a building. I didn’t like taking money away from productions to fix the building.”
Adams said she spent a lot of her time working on problems with the building and that took too much time away from her administrative duties for the ballet.
The Florida Ballet is now renting their location and Adams said she couldn’t be happier.
“All I have to do now is dial one number when we have a problem,” she said. “Now all of our money and energy can be focused on the ballet and our productions. We love it.”