In the aftermath of the devastating hurricanes that struck Tampa Bay, theaters and cultural arts organizations face immense challenges. They are not just rebuilding physical spaces or hoping to restore performance attendance but also grappling with the emotional toll on themselves and their home cities. The public overwhelmingly supports each organization navigating this difficult journey, recognizing that their revival is not just about bricks and mortar but healing a community.
Sacred Lands Preservation
Imagine a cherished historic family property, a legacy lovingly maintained for three generations, reduced to ruins in a single night. David Anderson, board president of Sacred Lands Preservation and Education, a nonprofit that preserves the archaeological site Anderson’s family owns in the Jungle Prada area of St. Petersburg, explains how everything changed that night.
"All the facilities - our waterfront deck, museum building, our outdoor kitchen, our cabin and our seawall- were destroyed by the storm surge of Hurricane Helene,” he says. “We're located on the water by Boca Ciega Bay. It's historic because it has an American Indian mound – which I call the best preserved in Pinellas County. It's part of the Tocobaga Indian Village that was here during the Mississippian cultural period. The Indian mound is still intact because they built it wisely 23 feet above sea level."
In the immediate aftermath, they are relocating planned events and focusing on clean-up efforts. In the long term, he acknowledges that the structures will never be quite the same, especially his grandmother's greenhouse from the 1950s, which was converted into venue space. They recovered the pottery, arrowheads and artifacts inside the venue and moved the display to higher ground.
"There's 1,000 years of human history on our site. It goes back to the American Indians at around 1000 AD, the Spanish landing in 1528 and the 20th-century developments," Anderson explains. "My grandmother was the gardener who developed the gardens here. Now, the greenhouse is just a shell. The water came in through the walls. I don't believe it will ever be an event space again."
After Hurricane Helene, Anderson started a GoFundMe, and the community's love for Sacred Lands has been flowing generously through donations and assistance at volunteer work days.
Anderson has a wish list on the organization's website with items that range from a vacuum cleaner to speakers to carpenters and electricians willing to volunteer their services. He's also seeking people for a volunteer day on November 9th.
"At the first volunteer days, we had 50 to 60 neighbors, students from USF and USF ROTC. We had a big turnout and got all our big debris moved out to the pile on the curve, and the path opened up," he says. "I learned firsthand how destructive water can be. They say hide from wind and run from water. I see why: water is very destructive. People have been doing a lot to help with our recovery."
Firehouse Cultural Center
Hurricane Helene brought catastrophic flooding, submerging the Hillsborough County-owned Firehouse Cultural Center, which opened in the old Ruskin Fire Station in January 2020, and its adjacent pottery studio under as much as four feet of water. Both facilities were left decimated and their contents destroyed. The pottery studio, fully renovated in 2023, suffered a significant loss, including kilns, wheels and supplies. This devastation was compounded by Hurricane Milton, which caused additional roof damage.
"It was a double hit,” says Firehouse Cultural Center Executive Director Chris Bredbenner. “The immediate impact is we have no home. We have program space and we have no revenue. We pride ourselves on meeting the needs of our community – with classes, cultural programs, our partnership with Straz and the Museum of Art and we were just beginning a partnership with the Florida Orchestra. We can't be that organization that meets needs anymore right now. The immediate impact is not having that sense of place for our community."
As the home venue for theater company MacBeth and Cheese, Bredbenner described going into the theater space after the flood.
"Literally, the chairs were laid down on the floor on their backs lined up in a row,” he says. “It's macabre when I opened the door; the water comes rushing out, and I see the chairs lying flat. It's our loss, but it's also a community loss. But we'll be back."
He says they won't ask for monetary support for Firehouse Cultural Center until the community's personal needs are met – food, clothing and housing.
"In the coming months, when we do have a building again, it will be a matter of volunteers to help us restock and also help us financially with what we have to spend,” Bredbenner says. “Folks want to volunteer now, but there's no activity until the building gets rebuilt and refurbished. We appreciate all those who have already donated and know the support will come as we progress. While this is a setback for our community, we're going to build back better. As the community moves forward and sees what everyone needs, be kind to one another and support organizations however you can. There are so many that are going to need the community's support. We'll all come together and rise above it."
MacBeth and Cheese
Amy Windle, president of MacBeth and Cheese, was poised to open the second week of “Dial M for Murder” at the Firehouse Cultural Center when Hurricane Helene abruptly altered those plans.
"We lost all of our wood materials that we build the sets with, some furniture, and we're having to start from scratch to build sets again,” Windle says. “Our venue is not available. We found a place to do just one show for December. We won't be able to do the show we'd planned for February. We can't schedule shows and auditions because it takes months of planning. Without dates for the shows, we can't secure rights. The long-term effects are basically having to rebuild everything from scratch."
Their material and income loss over the next six months averages $16,000.
"I know the Firehouse's devastation was much worse than ours, but just going in and seeing that was like a gut punch," Windle says. "Community support has been nothing short of amazing. We made a video and posted it on our Facebook page. A lot of people from the theater community came together and we received $2,500 in donations. I couldn't believe it. I was just thrilled. So many people asked what they could do to help when they were ready to help get us back on our feet.”
People can support MacBeth and Cheese by purchasing tickets to their holiday show, volunteering, or donating on their website.
"The response of the people in our local community blew me away,” Windle says. “It just shows how close-knit it can be. There's your family, and then there's your theater family."
New Tampa Players and TheatreFor
New Tampa Players faced a tough time with their “Little Shop of Horrors” musical production
, having to cut it short due to the closure of their venue, Hillsborough County’s New Tampa Performing Arts Center, power outages and the damage inflicted on the homes of cast, crew and staff. Meanwhile, TheatreFor in Clearwater, which had just opened its doors in August, was forced to cancel two shows and postpone a third. The co-founders lost irreplaceable memorabilia, vintage costumes, props and set pieces.
"Most of the difficulty stemmed from performers and tech people running into problems with the aftermath of the storms,” TheatreFor co-founder Mike Cote says. “Probably the best way to help us recover is to continue coming to see the shows and buying tickets. Hopefully, as long as the hurricanes will leave us alone, from this point on, it will be smooth sailing."
Although New Tampa Players sustained no damage, losing an entire week of performances is a significant blow to a small theater company. NTP Producing Artistic Director Nora Paine commended the New Tampa Performing Arts Center staff for their unwavering support. With several theater staff members living in affected communities, the NTPAC team stepped in to lend a helping hand.
"Their staff became our staff and they worked very hard to get the show up," Paine says. "The impact was losing ticket sales from the first weekend because not everybody can exchange and go to the second weekend. People were still - rightfully so - very concerned about hurricane things our second weekend."
As the community was focused on hurricane recovery, the second weekend didn't sell out, resulting in an approximate $30,000 loss they need to make up in the next fiscal year. The best way to help the theater is to purchase tickets to their spring show or donate on the website.
"I'm hoping 2025 is a big breath of relief for all of us," Paine says.
Tampa Bay Arts Alliance
"Like the rest of Tampa, we've been trying to find our footing again,” says Tampa Bay Arts Alliance Executive Director Michele Smith.
TAA offers a resource page on its website with information on local and national grants available to artists suffering a loss from hurricanes.
TAA’s focus is getting back to arts programming, focusing on the arts venues that are open and seeking patronage. Public support is essential for these large and small theater companies and cultural organizations to survive. It's a reminder of the community's vital role in sustaining the arts during these challenging times.
"We want our community to know there are places to go and experiences to have that are uplifting, joyful and bringing us together,” Smith says. “I think that is really important, so that is what we are trying to do – keep a spotlight on the arts here in Tampa Bay."
Here are ways to support your local cultural arts and live theaters:
www.sacredlandspreservation.org
www.theatrefor.org
www.firehouseculturalcenter.org
www.macbethandcheese.com
www.newtampaplayers.org
https://tampaartsalliance.org