Excitement growing for new cultural arts center opening next year in Palm Beach

As work continues on the redevelopment of the Royal Poinciana Playhouse, excitement is building for the project's centerpiece.

An event held April 25 at the Palm Beach home of Avie and Jill Glazer drew more than 125 people, who exchanged ideas and explored ways to aid the growth and success of a new waterfront cultural arts center that is expected to open next year, the couple said in a statement.

The Innovate, a non-profit organization chaired by Avie Glazer, whose family owns the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will operate the programming for the center.

The 24,000-square foot multipurpose space at 70 Royal Poinciana Plaza will host year-round performing arts, educational outreach, and community and social programming.

It will include a fully configurable, 400-seat jewel box theater and full-service catering kitchen.

The old playhouse, which debuted in 1958 and drew celebrities such as Burt Reynolds, Jackie Gleason, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, closed in 2004.

"To bring this vision to life, we've collaborated with outstanding architects, consultants, and theater specialists," Avie Glazer told guests at the April 25 event. "Our goal is to enrich the quality of life in Palm Beach. We offer many ways for individuals and businesses to play a role in this transformative project. Our aim is to connect with — and give back to — the entire Palm Beach community. We want to engage residents of all ages and with a variety of interests.”

As the Glazers plan for the center's inaugural year, they are seeking support from individuals and businesses through founding memberships, program sponsorships, naming opportunities, and a new "Take a Seat" campaign launched last month.

The campaign encourages members of the community to demonstrate their support for the center by underwriting a theater seat inscribed with their name.

The cost is $5,000 and includes an inscribed brass seat plaque that can be placed in a location of the donor's choice.

Innovate was tapped in 2021 by the project's developer, Massachusetts-based WS Development, to operate the new performing arts center.

Up Markets, a division of WS Development, has controlled the playhouse since 2014 under a long-term lease for the Royal Poinciana Plaza and spent years searching for an operator before settling on Innovate, Alexandra Clark, vice president of Asset Strategy & Experience for WS Development, told the town's landmarks board in February 2021.

"Fourteen times we updated the council on our progress to identify the right operator," Clark said. "We acknowledge at times that it felt the same, and simply, it was. It was slow, and it was time-consuming. But for the last five years, we searched far and wide for an operator. We knew it wasn't easy, and we knew it wasn't done until it was done."

Construction on the Royal Poinciana Playhouse redevelopment project began in 2022 and is making "significant" progress, Clark told the Daily News last month.

In addition to the new cultural arts center, the redeveloped playhouse site also will include a new waterfront restaurant. Tutto Mare, a fine dining eatery, won Town Council approvals in December.

Jill Glazer said last month she looks forward to working with the community on supporting the new cultural arts center.

“We are incredibly excited about the support and enthusiasm from the Palm Beach community," she said. "We are honored to spearhead this important new community resource."

For information on the "Take a Seat" campaign or to donate, visit www.theinnovate.org/donate.

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Excitement building for new cultural arts center in Palm Beach