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Sen. Wilton Simpson wants $30 million event center for his home county of Pasco

 
State Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby.  Times  [2016]
State Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby. Times [2016]
Published March 11, 2019

Five years ago, then-Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford sought state dollars for a convention center and performing arts complex in Wesley Chapel with a few-thousand-seat capacity.

Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, is poised to follow suit.

Simpson and Rep. Amber Mariano, R-Hudson, are seeking a multimillion-dollar appropriation in the 2020 state budget for a "Pasco Events Center.'' Simpson asked for $3 million for initial design and other work. Mariano put in for $10 million.

Either way, the appropriation would be just the first-year funding. State documents show the legislators' project the center could require $10 million annually for three consecutive Tallahassee budget years.

The proposed appropriation would "stimulate economic development in a quickly growing region of Pasco County with access via a major highway (I-75) and to provide the Tampa Bay region with a large-scale, multi-purpose event center,'' according to the funding request from Simpson. He is vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and is scheduled to become Senate president in 2021.

Weatherford's idea morphed into a $15.5 million theater and performing arts school owned and operated by Pasco-Hernando State College, but located on the campus of the Cypress Creek Middle-High School off Old Pasco Road. Construction on the facility, known as IPAC for Instructional Performing Arts Center, is scheduled to begin later this year and the approximately 500-seat theater is expected to open for the 2020 school year.

That is downsized from the original idea of a center costing up to $60 million that would have been capable of holding live performances, conventions, trade shows, high school graduations and other special events. Legislators appropriated $26.5 million for the center over a three-year period, but funding stalled after then-Gov. Rick Scott vetoed an $11 million allocation in 2016.

Simpson now has his own vision for a several-thousand-seat center costing up to $35 million that would be controlled by the Pasco School District and Pasco County government, but likely be operated by a third-party vendor. No location has been picked.

In an interview, Simpson highlighted, as an impetus, the Pasco School District high schools' inability to hold indoor graduation ceremonies within the county.

"For years, our population continues to grow, but we have nowhere to hold our graduations indoors. There is so much need for this type of facility where Pasco County can go (within) county to hold these events,'' he said.

Most of Pasco's 13 traditional public high schools are using the Yuengling Center at the University of South Florida for their June 2019 commencement ceremonies.

Putting an events center in the middle of Pasco County won't necessarily make it more convenient for some high school graduations. Anclote High School in Holiday, for instance is 31 miles from the Yuengling Center, but nearly 40 miles from the I-75 and State Road 52 interchange near the center of the county.

Simpson said he envisioned the building having a capacity of 5,000 to 7,000 people, and his funding request said the building would be used for graduation ceremonies, concerts, trade shows and athletic events.

County Administrator Dan Biles, Commissioner Mike Moore, deputy school superintendent Ray Gadd and Bill Cronin, president and CEO of the Pasco Economic Development Council, met several months ago to discuss Simpson's proposal.

"There is recognition that it would be a missed opportunity if we just walked away.'' said Gadd. "If we could get funding, then we have to study what is the feasibility of doing it. Does it make any sense?''

Moore, chairman of the Pasco Tourist Development Council, agreed.

"Think about tourism, and it definitely would be a boost for local businesses,'' said Moore. "The larger meeting spaces that can hold events or conventions? There's not a lot here. We don't have those assets. So, it's definitely worth looking at.''

The 60-day legislative session began March 5 and is scheduled to conclude May 3. Mariano sponsored the House appropriation even though the center, if it comes to fruition, isn't expected to be located in her west Pasco district. A more likely location is House District 38 in central and east Pasco, but the seat formerly occupied by Department of Veterans Affairs Executive Director Danny Burgess, won't be filled until after a June 18 special election. The state budget year begins July 1.

Contact C.T. Bowen at ctbowen@tampabay.com or (813) 435-7306. Follow @CTBowen2.