Coral Springs Center for the Arts

During a community visioning exercise in the City of Coral Springs in the early 1980s, the participants indicated that there was a need for a community center to host meetings and events, as well as serve as a hub for recreational activities. As part of a large general obligation bond issuance for parks and a public safety facility, $8 million was allocated for the community center, which was expanded to include a gymnasium, which had also been identified as a need.
During the construction, many consultants and engineers worked on the facility, which was designed by Donald Singer, a local architect of international stature. In fact, the facility was awarded an architectural award on first opening.
Due to space limitations, a novel solution to the need for basketball courts and auditorium space was developed by combining the two. The two-court gymnasium opened directly into the theater, with portable seating used to service both. When facing south, the bleachers served as the mezzanine of the theater, when facing north as grandstands for the gymnasium.
During the three-year construction, cost-overruns totaling another $1 million and several contractor bankruptcies forced many “value engineering” decisions to be made, including reducing the stage and fly tower space, reducing the number of classrooms, and downgrading material specifications. The basic envelope of the building however, remained the same.
The facility opened in 1989 as a division of the Parks & Recreation Department. Before a year had passed it had become evident that although the building had been designed primarily for recreation activities, the demand for cultural activities far outweighed the level of use the facility was generating.
By 1990, the City Centre (as it was then called) was made into its own department separate from Parks & Recreation and theater professionals were recruited to run the facility. Although the cultural programming proved very popular, it soon became evident that there were two glaring problems.
First, the shared gymnasium/auditorium space was cavernous, creating insurmountable acoustics problems. Second, the stage and backstage areas were so small, due to the cutbacks, that only the most stripped-down shows could be successfully mounted.
The theater went through two full seasons generating reasonable occupancy, but very low revenue due to the type and quality of events that could be brought in. The City’s operating subsidy was close to $1 million annually to keep the City Center open.
In an effort to reduce ongoing operating costs, the City chose to put out a bid for managing the facility, hoping that privatizing the management would at least protect the City from economic or market swings. The annual cost was reduced to about $800,000, but the private management firm experienced the same difficulties in programming the auditorium.
In 1994 the City committed funds generated from revenue bonds to fix the acoustical and space problems in the facility. At the same time, a wealthy artist was courting the City to partner in building an art museum. The two projects were a natural match and a total of $4.5 million ($1.5 million from the patron) was allocated to the project.
The scope included transforming the gymnasium into an art museum with an upstairs area for classrooms, and a shared lobby for the theater and museum. The theater was rebuilt to add more orchestra seating and a balcony was constructed overhead. Acoustical treatments along the theater walls were added as well.
The renovated facility reopened in 1996. The acoustical problems had been greatly mitigated, the seating was better, and the art museum was a beautiful addition to the facility. The complex was renamed The Coral Springs Center for the Arts.