Florida the rules are different here Chapter XXXV

Some news out of Miami. The Carnival Performing Arts Center. What a dumb name for a place to showcase theater, musical performers etc. I guess it fits the Florida atmosophere and it could have been worse. Chico's Bail Bonds could have bought the rights.

Hat tip- Stuck On The Palmetto: The Carnival Center For The Performing Arts
Open Post- Jo's Cafe, Bullwinkle Blog,

The new Miami performing arts center got a multi-million dollar name change today, courtesy of two separate gifts from Carnival Corporation and the Knight Foundation.

Carnival, which earlier had given the center $10 million for the naming rights to the concert hall, contributed an additional $10 million and received the naming rights for the entire center, now dubbed the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts.

The Knight Foundation, which had awarded more than $3 million in grants to the center, contributed about $7 million more and received the naming rights to the symphony hall, now named the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall.

The Sanford & Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House will keep its name, bestowed after a $10 million gift from the South Florida philanthropists for which it is named.

The gifts were announced at a 10 a.m. press conference this morning.

Sherwood ''Woody'' Weiser, chairman of the MPAC Foundation, which raises private dollars for the center, hailed the two donors as paragons of civic philanthropy.

''I don't think anybody has given more to this community than the Knight Foundation and Carnival,'' Weiser said. ``Miami is coming of age. It's no longer a sun and sand city.''

Howard Frank, Carnival's chief operating officer, said the cruise line's relationship with the center dates back to about 1991, when company founder Ted Arison first pledged $10 million to the center.

The latest gift was affirmed this spring over a tuna salad lunch with Frank, Weiser and Carnival CEO Mickey Arison.

''We all felt it was important to get the performing arts center off to a good start from a financial standpoint,'' Frank said, adding that the company's board wrestled with the notion of such a prominent endeavor.

In the past, Carnival has given to groups like the New World Symphony, the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, the United Way and Camillus House -- without much fanfare.

''Our philanthropy has been quiet philanthropy. Our corporate style has been quiet,'' he said. ``That was one of the things we considered.''

Ultimately, Carnival's board decided the center's visibility made it worthwhile. ''It gives recognition to Carnival and its employees,'' Frank said. ``I think this is the first time we've ever done something where we truly put our name out there.''

The names John S. and James L. Knight are well known in Miami, the brothers having owned and operated the Miami Herald and given to countless local causes.

Among their legacies is the Knight Foundation, whose commitment to the center dates back to 1995 and includes numerous grants in support of the center's building campaign and artistic initiatives, such as the Merce Cunningham retrospective planned for early 2007.