Representatives from multiple performing arts and community organizations appeared before the Fort Walton Beach City Council on March 10 to urge the city to find a long-term solution for the aging Civic Auditorium, which has been operating under emergency safety measures after a building inspection revealed numerous code violations.

Craig Ewing, business manager for Stage Crafters Community Theatre, told the council he was speaking on behalf of multiple groups that rely on the facility, including Mosaic Children’s Theater Company, Pyramid Performing Arts, the Fort Walton Beach Community Chorus, Rocky Bayou Christian School, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Studio 625 Ballet Studio and Fred Astaire Dance Studio.

• “Without that facility, we are strapped as to how we’re gonna perform in the future,” Ewing said.

Ewing told the council that City Manager Jason Davis had informed him earlier that day that the auditorium could remain in use through 2027 under the same fire watch procedures currently in place — a development that allows the groups to begin securing performance rights for next year’s shows.

“We can now go and get our rights for ‘27 for the shows that want to go on,” Ewing said. “But I think we’re going to be right back here in ‘28 with the same question again.”

How the issues came to light

The auditorium’s status became a pressing concern after Stage Crafters representatives met with the city earlier this year to discuss an arrangement tied to the group’s 2023 purchase of a city-owned property on Robinwood Drive. 

As part of that sale, Stage Crafters had agreed to perform an estimated $35,600 to $40,400 in improvements to the city-owned auditorium over several years. During that meeting, Davis said representatives described life safety systems — including smoke evacuation and voice evacuation systems — that had been removed or were no longer functioning properly, prompting the city to order an inspection.

What the inspection revealed, however, went well beyond those initial concerns. The city’s building official, fire inspector and facilities team found extensive problems that Davis said resulted from years of accumulated neglect and unpermitted work to the building. The building is not fully sprinklered, lacks smoke detectors, has two heat detectors that are more than 20 years old and have never been tested or replaced per manufacturer recommendations, and did not have proper egress signage. Extension cords had been spliced into outlets, wiring was improperly run through plenum spaces, and walls had been added without permits.

Rather than shut the facility down immediately, the city implemented temporary safety measures to allow Stage Crafters to fulfill its current season of ticket sales. City crews installed battery-operated smoke detectors, added exit signage and corrected the electrical wiring. The city also required a three-person fire watch during events — one stationed at a pull station, two roaming the facility — and prohibited the use of smoke machines and dry ice.

Davis previously told Get The Coast that the building is well past its useful life and that any modifications to the safety systems would trigger a full remodel to current code — a cost he said is not economically feasible.

• “It is cheaper to build new at this point of degradation,” Davis said.

‘No other facility like that in town’

Ewing made the case to the council that the auditorium is irreplaceable in its current form. He described it as the right size for community productions, with a raised stage, rake seating, wings for set storage, dressing rooms, and lighting and sound capabilities that few other venues in the area can match.

He said other options — such as the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center or the Rigdon Center — are too expensive for the nonprofit groups that rely on the auditorium. High schools cannot give up their stages for the two to three weeks a production requires, and local churches lack the necessary stage configurations, he said.

• Ewing noted that many of the organizations that use the facility provide scholarships, assistance to low-income families and people with disabilities, and donations to charitable organizations in the community.

“To bulldoze it down and not have a replacement would really impact the arts for Fort Walton Beach,” Ewing said.

Mayor ties auditorium to broader city hall question

Mayor Nic Allegretto, who served on the council for eight years before becoming mayor, acknowledged the community’s concerns and said finding a solution is something the council wants to do.

But he tied the auditorium’s future directly to the larger question of replacing the city’s aging municipal facilities, noting that the building the council meets in also needs to be replaced.

• “I think that the bigger problem is that we need this building that we’re sitting in replaced as well,” Allegretto said. “So if that’s going to be a part of the solution, this also has to all be replaced at the same time.”

Allegretto said the cost of addressing both facilities has kept previous councils from seriously tackling the issue, but that the situation is reaching a point where it can no longer be deferred.

“At some point, I think our council is gonna have to seriously look at that building and this building and say, ‘Hey, we can’t kick the can any further,'” Allegretto said.

The question of what to do with the city’s municipal campus dates back to at least 2016, when Fort Walton Beach issued a request for proposals for the renovation or replacement of city facilities. In October 2022, the council discussed a new City Hall Complex that included an estimated $16.4 million city hall and $15.6 million auditorium.

• By August 2023, the council discussed scaled-back options, including leasing the United Fidelity Bank building or constructing a smaller facility at the current site.

Davis has estimated that new construction of a 20,000-square-foot auditorium could cost roughly $16 million based on recent capital project costs. He has also said that if the council approves a new auditorium, it could be operated with exclusive contracts for food and beverage, audio-visual services and other functions, with the city serving as contract administrator.