Palm Coast to establish arts district in Town Center

Palm Coast Observer
News

The city of Palm Coast will establish an arts district within the city's Town Center Innovation District in an attempt to support the arts and create a local destination.

The City Council approved a resolution establishing the arts district as part of the consent agenda during the council's Sept. 15 meeting.

Mayor Milissa Holland noted in a City Council workshop Sept. 8 that the proposed arts district has been a City Council priority for years.

A detail of Turtle #10, "NANCY MARIE." Photo courtesy of the Palm Coast Arts Foundation

"This was an initiative that began with the thought of, 'How do we bring together and collaborate all the different art groups in the community?'" Holland said. "... We’ve had complete participation and involvement with all of the different arts communities, which I think is exciting, and I think for the first time we're seeing a lot more of that."

Turtle sculpture to be unveiled

LPGA champion Nancy Lopez will make a guest appearance for the dedication and unveiling of Turtle #10, NANCY MARIE, on the city's public art Turtle Trail.

The event will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at the Palm Harbor Golf Club in Palm Coast. Social distancing and masks will be required a the event, which will also live-streamed over Palm Coast Connect, according to a news release from the Palm Coast Arts Foundation.

The sculpture was sponsored by local historian Mery Gable and was inspired by the history of the Palm Coast Golf Club — since renamed the Palm Harbor Golf Club — the county's first 18-hole championship golf club. Lopez was hired in 1978 as the club's touring pro in residence.

“From the very beginning, the creation of ‘NANCY MARIE’ has been a labor of love," Bob Teller, the artist for NANCY MARIE, said in the news release. "I read everything that I could find on the lives of Nancy Lopez, Billy Casper, the Palm Coast Golf Course and on Palm Coast itself. I knew that this particular piece of public art needed to transcend the mundane, that it must honor and pay tribute to those who have significantly contributed to the emergence of Palm Coast as a vibrant community along the coast of Florida. Whether my effort to this end achieves that goal is almost certainly in the eyes of the beholder.”

City approves initial plan for multifamily development

The Palm Coast City Council voted 4-1 on Sept. 15 to approve a master site plan for a 256-unit multifamily development called Aviara at Palm Coast, to be constructed on the eastern side of US 1 half a mile north of White View Parkway. City Councilman Eddie Branquinho was the sole vote against the development.

The 256 units will be spread across 12 buildings, and there will also be a community clubhouse.

The land is already zoned multifamily residential, with an allowable density of 12 units per acre and a maximum of 769 homes.

The proposed development will be 33% of the allowed maximum number of units and will have a density of 2.79 unites per acre, according to a city staff document.

The developer will present a technical site plan to the city for approval at a future date.

The arts district's mission statement is "To foster creativity and economic vitality through artistic, educational, and commercial endeavors in a dynamic urban community," Palm Cast Parks & Recreation Department Director Lauren Johnston told council members during the Sept. 8 workshop.

Stakeholders include the Flagler Auditorium and the Palm Coast Arts Foundation, among others.

"We hope that our values set the state for the culture we will bring, with exploration, connection, education and innovation," Johnston added.

The city envisions the arts district as a vibrant gathering place that attracts businesses and gives the local community a place to "display beauty and artistry of all kinds, whether it be through a perfectly crafted microbrew, a thought provoking sculpture, or the clean lines of a 1957 Jaguar," Johnston said, reading from a city staff document.

To create the district, the city will conduct a feasibility study on funding sources, construct an arts facility and develop programming that generates revenue and aligns with the city's master plan, Johnston said.

Also during the Sept. 8 workshop, the council approved $30,000 in cultural art grants for 12 organizations including the Palm Coast Arts Foundation, Community Chorus of Palm Coast, City Repertory Theatre and African-American Cultural Society.

"We’ve had complete participation and involvement with all of the different arts communities, which I think is exciting. ... For the first time, we're seeing a lot more of that."

— MILISSA HOLLAND, Palm Coast mayor