Depending on who you talk to and also where those people live(if they are a tax payer and area intrusion) the approved Downtown Orlando Venues may or may not be a refreshing look into the future of the urban cityscape. With all of the people I have spoken to around the city(which have been several dozen in the past 3 or 4 months) the overall consensus is that they like the idea that the City of Orlando is making progress in efforts to establish it’s place in Metropolitan America and a much more diverse scene than just visit to Mickey. The common denominator seems to be…
“How is this all going to be paid for?” This is where you tend to see people start to differ in opinions. Let’s take step closer and see what all the fuss is about:
New Arena
This project is a $480 million chunk of the proposed $1.2 billion venue budget. With a new arena that will have better seating arrangements and larger accommodations, the chances for getting better touring acts and groups as well as better patronage to the Magic games is expected. Orlando is currently overlooked for a lot of larger concert events due to it’s small capacity compared to other Florida cities like Tampa and Miami. The Magic have proposed contributing appx. $50 million towards this but some say they should contribute much more since they will be the primary residents of this facility. The Orlando Predators will also use this facility once it has been completed in the coming years.
The Citrus Bowl Renovations
This particular endeavor is probably the least popular of the the approved venues(out of the people I spoke with). I would have to agree that this is on the bottom of the pecking order as far as needing to be addressed. If you look at the facts, you can clearly see why:
- The UCF Knights who have used this facility for their home games in the past will now have the new Brighthouse Stadium on campus and thus will not use this any longer(2007-future games will be at the new stadium)
- The other games that are there on occasion which include the annual FAMU vs. BCC Classic game and several college football bowl games don’t draw enough impact to justify the costly renovations($175 million to be exact).
- After the renovations have completed, this stadium will NOT be large enough for the National Football League(NFL) thus ruling out Orlando as an area of future NFL expansion
Performing Arts Center
Out of all of the venues, this is the one that most people agree we need. All large metropolitan areas(Houston, NYC, Chicago, Atlanta…etc.) have large performing arts centers to cater to their population. The $425 million slice of the budget will allow us to not rely on the tiny Bob Carr Arts Center. Orlando is currently the only major city in Florida who cannot claim a state-of-the-art performing arts facility. There is appx. $110 million in private donor contributions which takes some of the pressure off of the tax payers to foot the bill for this expensive project.
To view more information on the venues, click here
