Central Floridians continue to open their
hearts and their wallets to ensure that
Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
will be completed in its entirety, on time
— and as it was envisioned.
The arts center raised $1.8 million in
-
-
ing within 2 percent of its capital campaign
goal.
The funds are earmarked for Phase 2,
the centerpiece of which is Steinmetz
Hall, a 1,700-seat, acoustically perfect
performance venue rising along South
Street in downtown Orlando.
After more than 12 months of laying
the intricately designed foundation,
the hall is now soaring above ground
and beginning to take shape as crews
erect its stage and walls.
Steinmetz Hall and The Green Room,
a more intimate adjacent performance
space, are projected to open in 2020.
That event will mark the realization of
the original three-theater vision for the
extraordinary project.
Total cost of Phase 2 is projected to
be about $237 million — more than $66
million of which will come from philanthropic
donations. The cost of the completed
arts center is expected to be
about $604 million.
74 artsLife | FALL 2018
Williams Boy Scout Reservation, which includes
Camp la-No-Che in Paisley.
In 2009, the Williamses established the J.
Douglas Williams YMCA in Lake Mary and the
Douglas Williams Executive Health Center at
the University of Florida, both in honor of their
son, who died in 2003 at age 40. In 2014, they
helped to fund a school for abused and neglected
children — now called the Marjorie
Williams Academy — in their home state.
In 2016, as Marjorie Williams battled cancer,
the couple established the Marjorie and
Leonard Williams Center for Proton Therapy
at UF Health Cancer Center – Orlando
Health. Proton therapy is a form of radiation
treatment that delivers a precise dose of radiation
to tumors while sparing surrounding
normal tissue.
This vast entrepreneurial and charitable
empire is being overseen by an old-school
Southern gentleman, a successful businessperson
who has real-world empathy for
people who are struggling and could use a
hand up.
How, then, did the arts center become a
oriented toward health, medicine and youth
-
mission, and the Florida Hospital School of
-
ponents are growing more robust every year.
Plus, there are the FAIRWINDS Broadway
in Orlando™ shows. The Williamses enjoyed
attending Broadway shows in New York
when they lived in Winston-Salem. And they
began attending Broadway Series productions
in Orlando long before there was a Dr.
Phillips Center.
“Marjorie and I thought it was a great
thing to be able to take the kids to see a real
Broadway show in our town,” says Williams.
“We had great family times at those shows.
proud to support.”
-
dent and CEO, says having Williams on board
is a solid endorsem ent from one of the re-
-
ect,” she says, speaking of the completion
of Steinmetz Hall and The Green Room.
his family for helping us move that much
closer to opening.”
STEINMETZ HALL
RISES AS DONORS
STEP UP GIVING