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I think the round American Federal building will eventually be demolished. I remember there was a non profit group who wanted to preserve the precast concrete bries-soleil and reuse it for public artwork. They held a contest and came up with some pretty cool ideas.

Despite talks of temporarily deferring the glass banquet hall, I'm wondering if the changes in design, if any, will be noticeable. According to the Sentinel: Arts-center boosters are likely to balk at any sizable cuts to the project's design and amenities. "At some point, we have to say, 'This is it,' and we'll fund the difference," Pugh said. "Why build it with low quality? There's no reason to do it.". WFTV reported where additional savings were found: "That savings comes from cutting corners with the type of seats, railings, and doing away with certain materials, like carpet in certain areas and special lighting.". Hopefully they won't stray too far away from their "Build it now, build it right" motto.

RE: the Orange Ave/Pine St project Glad you mentioned the slide, kinda weird right? I think sliding down a 3 story slide would be the last thing I'd want to do after having drinks & a meal. I seriously doubt this place will be much different from Chillers or Latitudes after seeing the slide plans. Plus considering the location, any fine rooftop dining would be subject to noise pollution. Speaking of pollution, I'm glad to know the city mandates new buildings are constructed according to LEED standards by requiring a minimum of 315 sq ft of green roof vegetation. I think the firestation has a green roof as well. The zoning agenda shows a few more details about the green roof and if you look closely at the interior renderings on page six, you'll notice what looks like a translucent corkscrew slide that leads from the rooftop to the first floor (lobby area?). Maybe someone could extract the pictures and post them? I'm not sure what to think of this building anymore. lol

I'm all about being green so this is very exciting! Plus Orlando will get royalties from companies all over the world if this method is adopted. It's a win-win! "Carbon dioxide could be sold to beverage companies..." gross to think about the life cycle as you sip on a soda. But then again, we currently spray the crap all over our food crops as "fertilizer" which is even worse because our treated waste sludge can still contain toxic chemicals, pathogens, and pharmaceuticals (hormones like estrogens, blood pressure medicaitions, antibiotics etc). Makes you wonder about the food borne illness outbreaks hmm.

Just an update: The MPB Agenda for the 7 story, 155 room Cambria Suites Hotel has been uploaded.

I figured the Ivanhoe Ped Bridge was nothing new, but I guess the media is now calling attention to it because it shows up on the transportation funding project list. The news station also mentioned the bridge will be a part of the Orlando Urban Trail (Dinky Line Trail), so Steve is correct in stating bicycles will be allowed. Lake Ivanhoe is a nice area, but I4 needs some sprucing up - like 408 streetscape style. I think the faux suspension bridge would make a great looking, albeit very expensive, landmark from I4 and Magnolia Ave. But maybe the planners should look for cost savings, avoid the HSR look and 86 any sheltered areas as not to encourage transients.

MyfoxOrlando reports: A $20 million-dollar pedestrian bridge is being planned to span Lake Ivanhoe alongside Interstate 4. However, the project is currently on hold. View designs Project website: http://i4pedbridge.com

HPB minutes on the Orange Ave /Pine St project is posted. Not sure how tall this thing will be in relation to the buildings next door, but the lack of windows in the alleyways facing west & north could be a mistake IMO (considering the need to modify the Kres building by adding windows). Just saying they should add windows that extend above the alleyway instead of building a big blank wall.

Information from their website:

It's about time. Maybe the leftover parcels of land can be used for medical offices to support Florida Hospital. I also wish the South Eola neighborhood (specifically the area within mariposa/jackson/eola/summerlin) could get some kind of infill project. It's so sparse and ugly within that little pocket. Keep Constitution Green park, but just raze the old duplexes and build some nice townhomes (like the "brownstones" on osceola or michigan ave) which could face the park.

Parking is always a deterrent. I think people would go downtown more often if businesses were able to validate/comp parking. I know of a few businesses that used to validate parking but are no longer doing so. Also, the LYMMO service needs to expand to accomodate the residents of ALL local neighborhoods. That would be nice.

Orlando Health (ORMC) recently acquired Health Central. Rumor has it, Florida Hospital lost the bid due to it's Seventh Day Adventist affiliation. ORMC will also build a Cardio Facility to "compete" with FH. FL Hosp has always been partnered with Disney, although during a certain time the partnership may have been inactive. Even when I worked there (as a peon) in '02 for over 6 years, we always referred to the medical plaza/cancer institute as "Disney" even though for some reason Disney was no longer a part of it. No one could explain why lol. FL hospital is counting on SunRail to bring in passengers to the area for what will be known as it's Health Village. A station will be situated off Rollins. Prahaboheme: the unknown building in your pic may be the one of the educational buildings of the FL Hosp College of Health Sciences. Not totally sure since I no longer work there, but if it's in the rear of the main hospital then I'm sure that's what it is. The college always existed but they were expanding to meet demands when I left back in '08.

The city is looking to create Neighborhood Improvement Districts (NIDS) so that SODO, College Park & Semoran Blvd Neighborhoods & Businesses can pay a special tax which will be directly reinvested back into their own neighborhood improvements. I don't know how to include the article so here's a link: http://www.wftv.com/...545/detail.html I would support something like this if it will allow residents to contribute as well. I'd like to see more acorn lighting fixtures & more traffic calming on my street, by either installing more round-abouts or islands (but no speed bumps). People zoom down my street sometimes over 30mph... myself included

I was taking a trip down memory lane, looking at some uploads of the various stages of the Solaire being built. I lived in Winter Park, so I missed the construction boom downtown. Hard to remember what downtown looked like before! I'm writing this because I came accross a group discussion between friggingr8est, javalady1, buldogger, about investors/speculators buying up condo units & driving up the demand/prices for these new condos. I wonder how they feel today, after what the economy went through with condos being the hardest hit, & knowing what we know now... Here's an Excerpt: