Bill Edwards sat at his desk in his office in the Mahaffey Theater, surrounded by years of memories, including a photo of him with legendary singer Tony Bennett. On another wall, below his display of army medals, hangs a painting a child made at one of the Books, Art and Music festivals at the theater.
Edwards company Big 3 Entertainment has managed the St. Petersburg theater for 15 years. But that agreement ended on May 10, Edwards said, because when he tried to negotiate a new contract with the city, they couldn’t come to an agreement.
“It’s bittersweet,” Edwards said. “It’s 15 years of someone’s life, (there are) a lot of memories. Most are good.”
The specifics of the negotiations were revealed during a city council meeting in November, 2025 when city development administration and finance managing director Beth Herendeen made a presentation.
It concluded with a document that read,“Based on Big 3’s proposal to increase the City’s contribution by more than 100% from the current agreement, and their rejection of the City’s best responsible offer increasing the City’s contribution of 31.8%, Administration will move forward with issuing an RFP.”
The City issued a request for proposals to take over management and only received one bid. It was from a group called the St. Petersburg Arts Partners, led by Joe Hamilton of St. Pete Catalyst, Vinik Sports Group, venue development and management firm Oak View Group and Live Nation.
But during the evaluation meeting in March, 2026, the evaluation committee found that the proposal lacked clarity, particularly around defining the roles of each partner. The committee decided to send the group a list of clarifications.
The City will run the theater until it finds a new management company.
Big 3 Entertainment’s contract had originally extended through September. But now Edwards’ focus is on the future of the Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts, the non-profit that raised funds for the Mahaffey Theater.
When Big 3 got the contract for the Mahaffey in 2011, the foundation took over the city’s Class Acts program, an educational, entertainment field trip for schoolkids grades K-12. According to the foundation, it serves more than 25,000 students annually through live performances, summer camps and BAMFests (Books, Art and Music). It presents 10-12 shows and 4-6 BAMFests in a school year.
In order to keep Class Acts going, Edwards has launched the 10 For Tomorrow $10 million campaign to build a community arts center. A former church in St. Petersburg has been identified as the potential new headquarters, which Edwards said they were “tying down.” Money raised will help transform the building into a professional arts facility.
The center would be a performing arts and education hub, providing afterschool arts classes, weekend conservatory training, summer camps with youth productions, community performances and events, field trips and BAMFests. Academic tutoring and transportation from local schools would also be provided.
Not only do the children learn the skills to perform onstage and behind the scenes, Edwards said they learn valuable life skills like reading and practicing lines, and following directions. And during the time they’re there, they don’t have their devices, meaning less screen time.
“It makes them better decision makers,” he said.
Edwards said the Class Acts performances will continue to happen at the Mahaffey Theater. Those regularly pack the theater with thousands of excited kids.
There have been many treasured moments at the Mahaffey since Edwards has run it. The most memorable concert for him was when Christina Aguilera brought her stadium-sized show to the mid-sized theater. He transformed a dead space in the theater into a restaurant, and through a collaboration with an arts organization, installed a giant inflatable moon in its window.
He seems most proud of the foundation’s work with Class Acts. When he knew he was losing the theater, Edwards said he had two choices: Shutting down the foundation and giving what’s left to another children’s organization or raising the money so the programs don’t get lost. At 81 years old, he wants it to be his legacy.
“I just want to get it where it’s supposed to be and where it can sustain itself,” Edwards said. •
