EARLY RENDERING VIA BLUE BAMBOO CENTER FOR THE ARTS - THE SIGN HASN'T BEEN INSTALLED YET
The Winter Park City Commission did not give Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts (Website) the assurances it was seeking Thursday during a contentious work session over the future of the nonprofit music venue’s lease in the old library building.
Blue Bamboo has voiced concerns about its ability to meet its lease obligation when rent is scheduled to double in August without having been able to sublease the second and third floors. None of the five commissioners expressed support for changing the terms of Blue Bamboo’s lease, though Commissioner Elizabeth Ingram suggested handing the lease to another arts organization that could sublease space to the venue.
Blue Bamboo Director Jeff Flowers said no arts organizations can afford the necessary rent on the upper floors and that construction delays have also hampered the project. He asked for flexibility to lease space to non-arts nonprofits or commercial businesses rather than sticking strictly to the original vision of an arts hub.
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio pushed back, saying she’s heard from several arts groups that the issue isn’t affordability but an inability to work with Flowers and Blue Bamboo leadership. “We have letters from people who said they could not deal with you,” DeCiccio said, adding that Flowers and Blue Bamboo founder Chris Cortez set the original rent figures and terms themselves.
Theresa Smith-Levin of Central Florida Vocal Arts spoke at the meeting about why her organization walked away from a sublease deal with Blue Bamboo nearly a year ago, after more than a year of work to secure both the city lease and an Orange County grant funded by hotel tax dollars. She said CFVA had no issue covering roughly $11,000 a month, half the rent, but objected to terms she described as a “bait and switch,” including restrictions limiting CFVA’s operating hours to before 5 p.m. and capacity limitations she called unworkable for an organization that relies on evening rehearsals and lessons. She said those terms contradicted earlier conversations she’d had with Cortez, who died of brain cancer last year, months after she withdrew from the deal. Flowers said he felt misrepresented and said the real disagreement was over whether CFVA could rent out space to others.
Ingram, whose background is in opera, suggested CFVA could take over the main lease and rent space back to Blue Bamboo so the venue wouldn’t lose its construction investment. Commissioner Warren Lindsey asked Flowers whether he had a backup plan if he couldn’t meet the lease terms; Flowers said he wanted to find a path forward that works for both the city and his organization.
Several community members spoke in support of Blue Bamboo, citing the opportunities it provides for young musicians and paying gigs for professionals. DeCiccio, the only commissioner who voted against the original 2024 lease, suggested Flowers pursue additional grant funding that would let the organization move to its own building. Lindsey echoed the sentiment, saying the commission needs to protect its interest in a highly visible city asset. “We have to be good stewards,” Lindsey said. “It’s a city asset.”
Blue Bamboo Founder Chris Cortez originally secured the lease for the old library building in 2024 over a competing proposal from Rollins College, which had sought the space for a new museum.
