By Jessica Vander Velde, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, September 25, 2009

South Shore residents have wanted a local arts center for years, but talks subsided in the economic downturn.

Then, this summer, Eugene Munns, a booking agent from Riverview, stepped in with plans for a multimillion-dollar center. He started the non-profit PTP Foundation this year to raise the money, and he plans to break ground within the next two years.

Munns, 50, gave a confidence-filled presentation at the SouthShore Regional Library Tuesday night.

"It's an uphill battle, but it can be done, and it can be won," Munns told the group of about 20 people.

He's looking at sites either near U.S. 41 or U.S. 301. A rendering of the building's layout shows a stage with an auditorium for 350 to 500 people, classrooms, recording studios and an art gallery.

Munns said his goal is to raise $2.25 million, which he said would include some operating expenses. That's considerably less than the price tag of the recently completed Carrollwood Cultural Center, which cost taxpayers about $8 million plus more in operating expenses each year. Last year, it was close to $400,000.

But Munns' confidence never wanes. He said he can bring in corporate sponsors, and he's already promoting that people can become charter members for $25. "I started my business with two people, and I can start this with two people," he said.

A few people in the audience were less optimistic. Ruskin artist Bruce Marsh sent an e-mail to members of the Ruskin Community Development Foundation later that night, expressing his doubts.

"They offer no evidence at all of having any resources and speak in vague generalities of getting corporate funding for this multimillion dollar project," he wrote. "Competition for corporate funds, particularly for large capital investments, is extremely competitive. Any grant application will ask for financial statements from prior years, usually three. PTP has no financial statement to offer."

This would be PTP Foundation's first project.

Fred Jacobsen, president of the Ruskin Community Development Foundation, said he had nothing to say until he sees a business plan. Munns said he'll put the plan on the PTP Foundation's Web site after he decides where they'll build.

Despite some people's misgivings, everyone said they'd love to see an arts center of some sort. Ruskin's namesake is John Ruskin, a British artist and philosopher, so arts has always played a part in the community. Ruskin College's arts building, built in the early 1900s, still stands on Fourth Avenue, and there are quite a few artists who call Ruskin home.

"We're trying to make kind of an artists' community," said Pete Smith, the president of the SouthShore Arts Council. "There's also a lot of musicians who live here."

He hopes the community will collaborate with the SouthShore campus of Hillsborough Community College. Although there isn't a performing arts center at the college yet, he's hopeful that as the campus grows, that might be a priority.