Honey Horn as arts campus? Depends on who you ask

The possibility that a new performing arts campus being sought by the town of Hilton Head could be located at Honey Horn has caused a strong show of concern from the public, enough of a push back that it appears to have caused a circling of the wagons by some of those nearest the project.

The town is seeking to build a campus that would cost an estimated $55 million to $65 million. The project has already been sharply criticized for its lack of detail, particularly by the Capital Projects Sales Tax Commission, from which the town originally asked for $30 million for the campus. After opposition, that request was later cut to about $10 million. The commission eventually agreed to include $6 million for the project in a potential one-cent sales tax referendum in November.

In a pair of articles published this week by The Island Packet looking at potential obstacles and critical questions for the project, the question of where the campus might be built was explored and Dan Castro, vice president of Community Vision of Hilton Head and a member of the town’s new venue committee, was quoted as saying Honey Horn is the preferred location although other options are being considered.

Wednesday, however, Castro sent an email to the newspaper saying he wanted to make clear that his comments were “strictly personal” and that he was not speaking on behalf of the committee. Castro added that his comments to the paper were made well before his appointment to the venue committee.

Castro also dropped a bombshell: Honey Horn is not an option for the arts campus, he now says.

“It is definitely a fact that Honey Horn is not a candidate as the venue location from the point of view of the Town of Hilton Head, which I have learned after recently being appointed to the Venue Committee,” Castro wrote in the email.

When reached in person, however, Castro refused to say anything beyond he was “informed” that this was the case.

When asked by whom he was informed, and in what setting and on what date, Castro refused to say, leaving open the question of how the town could have eliminated a site when it says no site has been vetted yet.

At a public venue committee meeting Wednesday afternoon, Councilwoman Kim Likins was asked if Honey Horn was being considered or not.

Likins, however, refused to declare Honey Horn completely off the table, saying it hadn’t been vetted, but noting the committee would not recommend anything that would violate the constraints of the 95-year lease Honey Horn has with the town.

“There are certain specifics associated with that lease that may or may not allow other venues to be on that property and that would certainly have to be considered in light of anything this committee would recommend,” Likins said.

When asked about being contradicted by the councilwoman and if he stood by his email, Castro said yes. “That was my understanding, but I also would say there is no decision, and that it has not been discussed whether it is on the table or not, so it’s really a nontopic at this point.”

And Rex Garniewicz, president and CEO of Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn, said he no longer wanted to comment about whether Honey Horn is or isn’t a possible campus location, referring those questions to Likins and Mayor David Bennett. Bennett has repeatedly said it is too early in the process to talk locations.

This story was originally published May 5, 2016 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Honey Horn as arts campus? Depends on who you ask."