City-appointed climate and preservation experts have made their decision regarding the fate of the ‘purple people-seater.’
By Gretchen Cochrane
Original Air Date: July 11, 2025
Host: After two years, the panel created to advise the City of Sarasota what to do with its Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall made its recommendations. Gretchen Cochran reports.
The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. Photo by Maciek Lulko
Singer: Well, I saw the thing looming over the bay
It was shaped like a shell in an odd kind of way
It gave me a shiver, and I said, “Ooh-ee!”
It looks like a purple people seater to me
It was a bayside, one-off, mighty purple people-seater
Bayside, one-off, mighty purple people-seater
Bayside, one-off, mighty purple people-seater
Sure looks strange to me
Gretchen Cochran: Early Wednesday, the keepthevanwezel.com Facebook page dropped that song. “Paint the whole thing the color of a seashell,” the vocals intoned, reflecting the purple hue of the historic performance hall by the bay. But before the day was over, Sarasota’s Purple Ribbon Committee had completed its nearly 50-page report to the city. It advises commissioners to do all they can to hold the beloved music hall together while they accelerate their push for a new performing arts center.
Right on cue, in the same week, the city learned its request for $3.5 million to implement flood mitigation measures for the fragile Van Wezel had been granted.
The song The Purple People Eater goes back to a wildly popular song in 1958 written and performed by Sheb Wooley. This modern version came from Kelly Franklin, creative spirit behind keepthevanwezel.com, when she fed lyrics written by Sarasotan James H. Goulde, Jr. into an AI music program.
Franklin’s passion has drawn thousands to the site and amassed nearly 3,000 signatures in a petition drive to keep the Van Wezel.
But it appears she’s met her match with the forces of Mother Nature. Let’s back up a little:
The committee of 7 was appointed two years ago and was gathering information. The chair resigned, and Charles Cosler, a New York City theatre designer, took over. Committee members’ credentials brought tension from the beginning. Consider Morris Hylton, president of Architecture Sarasota and a preservationist of state and federal renown, at the same table with Robert Bunting, director of the Climate Adaptation Center. Bunting in the last few months has issued respected projections that the coming storm season will be similar to last year’s epic season. Climate change will do the building in, he said.
Map generated using NOAA’s Sea Level Rise Viewer at coast.noaa.gov/slr.
Bob Bunting: As the sea level continues to rise and you have a building where the basement is, at its lowest point, already six feet below sea level, that’s not a good, sustainable—it’s a key vulnerability, and that’s going to get worse with the climate.
GC: Gentle strain was present. But then came 2024’s three named storms, and the performance hall’s proximity to the shoreline became an obvious hazard.
“The third hurricane of 2024, Milton, interrupted use for three months and required prompt, speedy and costly remediation. Both the lost revenue and remediations costs added up to nearly $5 million,” the report says.
“That was the storm that changed everything,” Cosler, the committee chair, said. That’s when the committee began to come to terms with the building’s vulnerability.
Hylton read one of the findings in the report:
Morris Hylton: Only 25 feet from the bay in a flood zone, the Van Wezel is extremely vulnerable to hurricanes and flooding from torrential rains, which are increasing in frequency and intensity.
GC: The report advises the city should immediately hire a team of consultants. They would develop a scheme for maintenance, the HVAC and electrical systems, and theater equipment to keep all running until the new performing arts center is open.
Photo by Harriet Thorpe via keepthevanwezel.com
The report does dwell a bit on how the Van Wezel might be used once a new performing arts center is taking its place, and if it is still viable. David Bovine loaded an entire section with ideas. They ranged from immersive experiences such as the Van Gogh one in Sarasota; the Department of Wonder in Texas, and the Superblue in Miami. He also mentions Flexible Event Spaces like Meow Wolf in Santa Fe and Beeple Studio in Charleston.
Marty Hylton, the preservation guy, at the close of the meeting, sadly offered a kind of eulogy for the beloved purple hall:
MH: A building’s significance—and this is per our National Preservation Act and our National Register of Historic Places—is based on historic, cultural, architectural significance and the integrity of the resource—in this case, a building. And while I absolutely agree it’s still a vulnerable asset that the city owns, its vulnerability and its code compliance have nothing to do with that significance.
GC: The Purple Ribbon Committee’s report will be presented to the City Commission in a public meeting August 18.
This is Gretchen Cochran of WSLR News.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.