Volusia County ECHO committee finds four projects eligible, approves budget change for African American Museum of the Arts

The Volusia County ECHO Grant & Eligibility Committee voted to declare four projects eligible to move forward for scoring and to the county council where applicable, and approved a budget amendment for the African American Museum of the Arts during a meeting held by the committee (meeting date shown in minutes as January 15). The committee scheduled scoring of the eligible applications for its next meeting on Feb. 13.

The eligible projects are: Little Theater of New Smyrna Beach (production improvements), the Hub on Canal (arts and cultural education center expansion), Conservation Florida’s D Ranch Preserve and Nature Center (restoration and conversion of an existing building into a nature center), and the City of DeBary’s Bill Keller Park pickleball courts and related park improvements. Committee members also approved a budget change request from the African American Museum of the Arts (AAMA) that raises the project’s total budget and restructures line items while leaving the museum’s ECHO funding request unchanged.

The committee’s eligibility votes were recorded by roll call during the meeting. Each of the four applications was declared eligible and advanced to the next steps: scoring at the Feb. 13 meeting and, where noted, onward to the Volusia County Council for final action.

Little Theater of New Smyrna Beach requested $57,500 from ECHO with a total match reported at $63,000. The application described installing a 32-foot-wide by 11-foot cyclorama LED screen as a flexible backdrop for performances and transparent LED panels on the building front to display announcements, event promotion and branding. The committee voted the project eligible; the application will proceed to scoring.

The Hub on Canal submitted a $600,000 ECHO request with a reported $600,000 match for a proposed roughly 30,100-square-foot expansion. The expansion would add two ceramic studios, two classrooms, storage, restrooms and a covered outdoor activity area for arts and cultural education. Committee members noted the applicant’s demonstrated public traffic and marketing success during the site visit and declared the project eligible for scoring.

Conservation Florida’s D Ranch Preserve and Nature Center applied for $600,000 from ECHO and reported $2,230,887 in match, which the applicant described as roughly $1.9 million in unencumbered cash, a $150,000 land match, and additional in-kind and previously spent cash. The project would convert an existing 5,000-square-foot building into a nature center with exhibition space, offices, storage, restrooms and a wraparound porch; improvements to the gravel driveway and parking were included.

Committee members discussed at length whether the large cash match the applicant reported would be treated as encumbered for this application and whether showing that level of match would limit the applicant’s ability to use the remaining funds for future applications. ECHO staff explained that $600,000 of the cash match is from an executed grant agreement with the Big Nova Foundation and that the remainder represents cash on hand the applicant has brought to the project. Staff said the committee must take the application as submitted and cannot amend the application to reduce the match figure at the eligibility stage; however, staff also explained that any cash left over after project closeout could be released and, if the applicant later sought funds for a separate phase, the applicant could request a budget amendment or release of funds at that later time. The committee declared the project eligible and moved it to the scoring stage while recording the match and the committee’s concerns in the meeting record.

The City of DeBary’s Bill Keller Park project requested $110,500 from ECHO with a matching contribution reported equal to the request. The project scope described expanding pickleball courts from two to three, resurfacing tennis and basketball courts, and adding new fencing and LED lighting. The committee voted the project eligible; it will be scored at the Feb. 13 meeting.

Separately, the committee approved a budget change request from the African American Museum of the Arts (AAMA) related to a previously awarded project. Committee staff explained that AAMA’s originally submitted budget had followed the program’s example template and omitted detailed construction line items; when reimbursements were submitted, staff could not process them without line-item detail. Staff and the applicant worked to resubmit a proposed budget that moves funds into site construction and other categories. The proposed changes increase the total project cost from about $1,000,000 to approximately $1,300,000 (a roughly 27% increase); the museum’s ECHO request remains $498,000. Because the reallocation exceeded the program’s 20% threshold for administrative changes, the matter was brought before the committee. The committee voted to approve the budget change so reimbursements can proceed under the revised budget layout.

Committee staff also reported quarterly updates for Q4 (Oct.–Dec. 2024). Completed or closed-out items noted in the report included new seating at the Performing Arts Center, final closeout of the City of Ormond Beach project, and completion and closeout of the New Smyrna Skate Park expansion. Staff reminded members that DCE projects span multiple award dates and that some older awardees (for example, Sugar Mill Gardens) may require extensions; ECHO staff said it can grant one-year extensions where needed. Committee members urged more public communication and ribbon-cutting-style promotion for completed direct-expenditure projects so the public and the sitting county council can see results.

Staff announced an upcoming groundbreaking for an Edgewater pickleball courts project on Monday, Feb. 3 at 10 a.m., and reminded members the committee will meet on Feb. 13 at 9 a.m. to score the eligible applications. The committee also completed routine business, including appointment of a vice chair.

The eligible applications will be scored at the committee’s Feb. 13 meeting; projects that pass the scoring stage will proceed according to the ECHO program’s procedures and, where required, to the Volusia County Council for final approval.