Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs may well have patched up their differences on the troubled Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts (DPAC). On Thursday, Dyer and Jacobs announced the formation of a new non-profit entity that will oversee the construction of the project.
The Community Construction Corporation (CCC), as the new entity is called, will be separate from DPAC and manage the construction contracts, develop a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for Phase 1 and oversee the construction process, according to a statement released by Mayors Dyer, Jacobs and DPAC.
“The formation of the CCC is an important step in realizing the vision for a new performing arts center for our region,” said Dyer. “Nearly all of the successes our community has experienced over the past few years are the product of collaboration and partnership between the City, County, our business community and our civic leaders. We are committed to partnering together to jointly identify solutions to ensure the performing arts center is developed in a viable, fiscally-responsible manner.”
Of the new entity, Jacobs said it will create a framework which will allow for accountability, transparency and fiscal responsibility.
“My goal has always been for this community to have a world-class performing arts center. This framework places us in a much better position to understand what it will take to get the project built right with proper oversight,” Jacobs said.
Earlier this month, Jacobs had issued a scathing indictment of the project’s viability, transparency and funding arrangements, indicating in a memo to Dyer that as currently structured the project poses “too many risks for the County, the City and our citizens.” Jacobs had also questioned the contracting process, seeking explanations as to why contracts had been awarded without proper review of lower bids, as well as, the City’s failure to identify its own funding commitment.
While DPAC has raised approximately $80 million in private pledges, the first phase of the Performing Arts Center is estimated to cost $282.6 million, comprised of financing from CRA bonds ($119 million), City of Orlando ($31 million), State/UCF grant ($15 million) and $10 million each from Tourism Development Allocations and Construction fund earnings. Even so, there remains a funding gap of close to $20 million.
Although not entirely clear of what will become of contracts already awarded, the current proposed financing might be moot with a more inclusive CCC Board, tasked with, among other things, “evaluating bids and contracts” and determining the “scope of the final project.”
Orange County and Orlando residents may yet have a say in how their tax dollars are spent as the “CCC will inform the citizens of the final plans and costs of the performing arts center,” according to the statement.
