City Buys Mizner Park Shed

Boca Raton, Fla., city officials completed negotiations Aug. 9 to purchase the Count de Hoernle Amphitheatre from the nonprofit Centre for the Arts at Mizner Park and will move forward on much-needed improvements to the venue.

Under the deal with the Community Redevelopment Agency, which owns the land the venue occupies, the city assumes the shed’s $588,000 mortgage and pays off about $300,000 in debt incurred by the nonprofit. In return, the city gets the shed, reportedly valued at $5 million, and other assets, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Centre for the Arts officials approached the city about buying the shed in June reportedly because of a decline in donations. It contended that exclusive promoter Live Nation wasn’t putting on as many shows as promised, leaving the nonprofit without the funds to maintain the facility. Its contract with LN ended earlier this year.

The city’s budget for next year reportedly includes about $1 million for renovations to the shed and about $750,000 for events, the Sentinel said.