Glitz and glamour

A group of Maitland citizens is hoping to create a cultural center for Maitland’s downtown with a new or updated civic center and performing arts complex.

It’s called the Maitland Cultural Corridor Project, and a few residents are at the center of the mission. The idea behind the project is to create a hub for culture and community in the city of 16,000, something they feel is lacking, said Jeff Flowers, president of the Performing Arts of Maitland and former two-term councilman.

Renee Stein Charlan, the project’s leader, is introducing the idea to the community with an event called the Glitz Gala at the Maitland Civic Center on Feb. 12. Tickets purchased for the event will also help to raise money for the project, which is in the planning stages.

“We’re in the embryonic stage of study of what is really Maitland’s need,” Charlan said. “It’s the beginning of an idea.”

Raising funds

First, Charlan said, the team must hire a company to help them survey the community to determine what they would want from a future civic center and performing arts complex.

Right now, Charlan said the plan could range from just a remodel of the current Maitland Civic Center, which was built in 1965, to building a new center alongside a new performing arts complex. The community will decide, she said.

The Gala will be the jumping off point for raising money for this research, which could cost anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000. Flowers said he’s already visited an arts complex in Tampa to get a feel for what they might want and has chosen someone to do the study. After the research, they’ll make a plan for changes or construction and get fundraisers going.

“What we do know is that there is a need for a revitalized civic center that serves Maitland,” Charlan said.

Center needs ‘face-lift’

While it used to be a great place to gather for Maitland residents when it was founded by citizens in 1965, now it’s “not even on the radar,” Charlan said. She wants to change that, and make the Civic Center the heart of Maitland again.

Dick Howell, president of the Center, agreed. He said the aging complex is in need of a face-lift.

“It’s something in the way of a community spirit,” he said of the Center’s presence. “We’ll be missing something if we don’t have this.”

Flowers said there is also a great need for a performing arts complex.

“All great communities have strong cultural programs,” he said. “Maitland could become a real cultural center.”

He thinks a new complex could help push Maitland’s plan for a new town center by drawing more people to the city and boosting the economy there.

“If Maitland becomes the cultural center for Central Florida, it puts a natural focus on the community, which would help give a reason to develop the town center,” Flowers said. “It’s a natural win-win for the community.”

Flowers said if they do put a new arts complex in the town center plan, the project could take about five years. He’d also like to provide a children’s music school at the center.

Mayor shows support

The city of Maitland doesn’t currently have any involvement in the project, but Mayor Howard Schieferdecker said that he’s excited about the idea, and sees it as something that would benefit Maitland’s families, children and the city’s businesses. Schieferdecker also said that it meshes well with the plans the city already has to develop its town center.

“I am in support of it, and I think it would be a wonderful addition to our city,” he said.

Charlan hopes that this project can bring Maitland together and help the city develop its downtown.

“My mission is to help with building community,” she said. “It could become the core catalyst for our future town center.”

Learn more

The Glitz Gala will be Saturday, Feb. 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the Maitland Civic Center. The black-tie optional event will have an open bar, silent and live auctions, Wearable Art by Scott Laurent and music by the Maitland Stage Band.

Tickets are $65, and can be purchased by contacting Renee Charlan at 407-376-3915 or June Flowers at 321-303-1404. The event is to benefit the Maitland Cultural Corridor Project.