By Michael Van Sickler, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Three companies have placed bids to operate the 2,031-seat Mahaffey Theater on downtown St. Petersburg’s waterfront.
ST. PETERSBURG — Beethoven or Britney? The Moscow Ballet or Toby Keith? Arts education or Ke$ha?
From now until early May, the City Council will select the next manager and operator for the city-owned Mahaffey Theater. It's a choice that comes down to finding the right mix of high and low art to strike a balance between community access and box office receipts.
Two for-profit companies and one nonprofit organization are competing for the prize. It will be awarded by the City Council, whose eight members are sifting through more than 1,400 pages of bid documents while already struggling with what it would mean for the city if they choose the wrong applicant. Lest they forget, Mayor Bill Foster ...