Orlando Fringe takes over the theater complex at 54 W. Church St. Credit: photo courtesy Orlando Fringe

After a, shall we say, eventful year that included flooding and leadership changes, Orlando Fringe is shuttering its downtown venue Fringe ArtSpace.

Despite the recent announcement that Fringe offshoot FestN4 would be taking over the ArtSpace in January, word came Wednesday that the Fringe organization will close the theater’s doors behind them in February 2025. No word yet from the city of Orlando as to future plans for the upstairs venue on Church Street.

Fringe brass puts the decision to close down to after-effects of flooding, low box office numbers, and the logistical challenges of running an arts operation downtown (parking, safety, etc. etc.):

“Maintenance is is a huge thing here in this space,” managing director Melissa Fritzinger told Orlando Weekly in a phone call Wednesday. “It is part of our rental agreement with the real estate division of the city of Orlando that we are responsible for all maintenance within these walls, so that means air conditioners, plumbing, electrical, all of that kind of stuff, and those pile up really fast when you have a space that is of a certain age. We’ve had to get doors replaced, we’ve had to have toilets replaced, and those things aren’t too cheap.”

Fritzinger said the air conditioner at the ArtSpace is “nearing its the end of its life cycle,” despite the Fringe organization having spent nearly $12,000 on the system since June 22.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Fringe leadership triad (Fritzinger, director of experience Genevieve Bernard and artistic director Tempestt Halstead) acknowledged “targeted financial support from the city’s Downtown Development Board earmarked for artists,” but said those funds don’t allow Fringe to address the physical-plant challenges or the costs associated with safety and parking.

And surely the elephant in the room (no pun intended) of state arts funding being cut didn’t help matters, either.

Fringe ArtSpace has been operating downtown in the old Mad Cow space since early 2023, intended as an arts incubator to to develop burgeoning talent as well as stage challenging theatrical productions. A recent highlight of the programming calendar was the Orlando Out Fest back in September.

Fringe leadership stresses that the mothership Fringe Festival will still happen next May — in fact, the lottery draw for next year’s shows is scheduled for Dec. 2. But closing ArtSpace will allow festival leadership to focus energy and resources on Orlando Fringe Festival, one of the largest and longest-running in North America.

“We’re going deeper, not bigger,” said Halstead.

They also stress that the annual winter FestN4 and the new Orlando Out Fest will continue into the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, the ArtSpace venue will continue hosting plays and events through the end of this year and into next. Besides the aforementioned FestN4, there will be The Red String (Nov. 15), When Love Is Found: A Tribute to the Muppet Christmas Carol (Dec. 5-8) and more to be announced.

The closure continues the trend of an ever-shrinking number of stages available to local arts organizations, with no easy solutions in sight.

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With additional reporting by Jessica Bryce Young.
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This article appears in Nov 13-19, 2024.