EVOLVE Business and Professional Magazine February 2019 | Page 30

VOLUSIA COUNTY'S ECHO PROGRAM
I
CULTURAL PROJECTS FUNDED SINCE 2000
n 2000, Volusia County residents voted to reinvest
in cultural infrastructure by approving a tax
referendum which will sunset in 2021. Since it was
approved by voters in 2000, Volusia County’s ECHO
(Environmental, Cultural, Historical, Outdoor) grant
program has provided nearly $85 million to more
than 200 projects that fall under the environmental,
cultural, historical or outdoor recreation categories.
More than $16 million has been spent preserving
cultural places and performance spaces to fuel an
exposure and love of the arts. In order to use an
ECHO grant, an applying and receiving organization
must raise the same amount of matching funds for
the project and there is heavy criteria to make sure
the mission of promoting arts and recreation is
adhered to.
Resolution 2000-156 states: It is the intent of
the County Council that the funds be allocated
throughout the County to provide broad
geographical distribution and apportioned
appropriately among the environmental, cultural,
historic, and outdoor recreation projects. The Volusia
ECHO Program seeks to enhance the quality of life of
Volusia County's residents by working to achieve the
following goals over a broad geographic base:
• Provide environmental/ecological, cultural,
historical/heritage, and outdoor recreational
facilities.
• Preserve significant archaeological or historic
resources; and develop, enhance, and
promote heritage tourism opportunities,
experiences, and resources.
• Foster public memory and community
identity by promoting and providing access
to destinations and experiences associated
with past events, peoples, and places within
the County of Volusia.
• Provide high quality, user-oriented outdoor
recreational opportunities including, but
not limited to, access to the Atlantic Ocean
through the establishment of oceanfront
parks and off-beach parking.
• Improve the quality of life for Volusia's
citizens by providing access to the cultural
arts; increase cultural based tourism; and
encourage redevelopment and revitalization
of downtown and urban areas through the
provision of cultural arts facilities.
With the tax referendum’s planned sunsetting
in 2021, the people of Volusia County have to make
some decisions. Without extending this referendum,
Volusia County would be out major dollars to
reinvest in culture. In order for the initiative to
continue, a public campaign must be mounted by
members of the public.
| 30 | EVOLVE BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE
Atlantic Center for the Arts
Expansion & Renovation of Atlantic’s Cultural
Venues Complex $120,502
Daytona Playhouse
Daytona Playhouse Renaissance $400,000
Shoestring Theatre
Shoestring Black Box and
Teaching Theatre $70,000
Theater Restoration & Upgrade $120,000
Enterprise Preservation Society, Inc.
Enterprise Heritage Center $41,000
City of Daytona Beach
Peabody Auditorium Renovation $300,000
Bandshell Stabilization $350,000
Midtown Cultural & Education Center $1,200,000
Yvonne Scarlett-Golden Cultural & Educational
Center $600,000
Jackie Robinson Ball Park/Museum $500,000
Pioneer Art Settlement
Joseph Underhill House $239,643
Gateway Center for the Arts
Gateway Center for the Arts $402,854
Stetson University
Stover Theater Historic Renovation $388,522
Homer & Dolly Hand Art Center $600,000
Bethune-Cookman Foundation
Mary McLeod Bethune Home $259,600