Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/207831
Sarasota News Leader November 8, 2013 Page 67 $700,000, Calhoon reiterated from his Oct. 23 appearance before the board. The Tourist Development Tax revenue fund dedicated to stadium expenses will cover the rest of the lighting cost, he added. After Calhoon completed his remarks, no comment was made for a few minutes. Then Commissioner Christine Robinson explained that the lack of immediate response was not to indicate "we're happy to be paying this." Instead, she said, Calhoon had met individu"We will get the project done," Calhoon told ally with all of the commissioners in advance the board. "We will have night baseball in the to tell them about the situation. spring, and we will have the ability to have many, many events going forward …" "Some of it was a bit troubling," Robinson Additionally, Calhoon explained — as he had added, but "there is not much we can do about on Oct. 23 — thanks to the use of a new meter- it, with Spring Training quickly approaching." ing system, users of the stadium for private or public events at night no longer will have to pay a flat fee of $5,000, regardless of whether they have the lights on for 15 minutes or 15 hours. They will be billed only for the amount of electricity they use, he noted. MORE THAN BASEBALL Commissioner Joe Barbetta also took the opportunity during the Nov. 5 discussion to point out "that the stadium is not just used for 16 games of baseball." Further, the new lighting system will be more Barbetta asked David Rovine, vice presienergy-efficient, he said. dent of the Orioles' operations in Sarasota, A group representing Any Given Child gathers at Ed Smith Stadium during the Play Arts! event on Oct 26. The organization was marking the culmination of Any Given Child Month, as proclaimed Oct. 1 by the Sarasota City Commission. Photo by Norman Schimmel