Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.
The Winter Park City Commission held a work session on June 25, 2026, at 3:30 PM to discuss the future of the Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts. The primary agenda item involved a request from Blue Bamboo to amend its master lease for the former city library building, citing financial challenges and the need to lease to commercial entities to cover rising rent. The discussion was marked by significant disagreement over the failed collaborative model with Central Florida Vocal Arts (CFVA), as well as the city's assertion of its fiduciary duty over a public asset valued between $8 and $12 million.
Presentation by Jeff Flowers Mr. Flowers stated Blue Bamboo generated $1.8 million in economic impact over 11 months, holding 181 events. He reported that the organization is profitable every month in 2026, with ticket sales up 50%. He requested lease amendments to allow commercial tenants, as the current rent ($32/sq ft) is scheduled to double to $44/sq ft ($22,000/month) in September 2026, a rate he claims no arts nonprofit can afford. He argued the upper floors cannot support performances and should be used for other purposes.
Commissioner Responses
Dispute: Blue Bamboo vs. CFVA Mr. Flowers claimed CFVA's lease demands included a minimum 250-person occupancy provision that would have left Blue Bamboo with only 12 seats, making their operations impossible. CFVA countered that this was a mischaracterization and that Blue Bamboo failed to collaborate, changed architects repeatedly, and refused to meet with city staff to resolve the issues.
Thank you. Welcome everyone to the Winter Park City Commission work session for June 25th, 2026. Meeting is commenced. Call to order. Discussion item today is the Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts Operation Discussion. And I think Mr. Flowers, you asked for the work session, so we'll let you start it off. Thanks very much, Mayor. Oh, thank you very much, Mayor. Well, my first job is to deliver 176 letters that are written by supporters of the blue bamboo in support of what we're going to be doing today. I think it's important to acknowledge these people. These are all individually written by them. And there are people that really care a lot about our city and about the blue bamboo. If you can go right up there to the microphone, and I think there's do it from there. You can do it from here. Okay, I'll just do it from here. Oh, that's the wrong one. Great. That's not it. The video or the numbers. That's the wrong PowerPoint. Here you go. It's on these chairs. Thank you. Let me just start off with, you know, when I was here two years ago with Chris and we were beginning this process. The goal at that time was to preserve the property, to keep it in the hands of the city. And to provide a blue bamboo venue to work from. And we've accomplished that. In these last 24 months, we've managed to get all of the construction done except the last few things which are under permit review right now by the uh there we go. Um by the um building department that should be done today, actually. Uh there their review is due today. And we have gotten the stairs accessible, the bathrooms on the first floor are accessible, etc. So the ADA requirements have been met. Yes, it was more expensive than we expected, and gee, we had to fix the um air conditioning system that we didn't know about, but we've got a solid roof, uh, a good elevator, and uh the stairwells are all brand new. So all of those construction processes are complete. Um as you all know, our executive director, Chris Cortez, passed away this last December. Um he was diagnosed in uh October, mid-October, and he was gone uh a week later from the state to be with his uh sister in California. So we had to pick up the ball, and we did. Um it was a pretty scary ball to pick up. We didn't know how to do it, but we learned. Um this calendar year, every month has been profitable. We've hired a marketing team that has expanded our um seating uh ticket sales by 50 percent from what it was in the prior six months.