He talks about his years at Ruth Eckerd Hall with pride. It was hard because there was a tremendous amount of skepticism about what the hall would do or whether it would be for everyone. I remember there was an article in the St. Petersburg Times where somebody called it the millionaires' sandbox. Everybody was afraid it would be a toy for the very wealthy. Not only does that sell a lot of tickets, but it also builds a relationship to the community.
People feel that they're part of the center.
You can't just build a hall and say, well, here we are, look at us. I think that's what happened in Tampa, where there wasn't as much community work done when the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center was built. Nobody's going to come to a hall unless they feel involved with it. Paying off that mortgage has proved to be troublesome over the last decade, a period when artists' fees skyrocketed and audience tastes were changing. That was an absolute killer.