dcluley98

Per Orlando City's website, the stadium will now have a memorial to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting tragedy: "A permanent commemorative memorial will be designed in Section 12 of the Club’s new stadium set to debut in 2017, encompassing rainbow seats representing each victim." http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/06/15/orlando-city-sc-dedicate-saturdays-match-orlandounited-efforts?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=News&utm_campaign=Unpaid

Neither the sign nor the lighting is functional currently, however, there is a layer around the bottom of the roof eave fossett that would suggest LED uplighting from that is possible. Fences are down, landscaping is up. It looks good so far. Waiting for final accents to really spice it up.

You guys are so negative tonight, haha. We have A: Land Rights and B: Initial Funding. . . I am just joshin' you all but usually it's opposite on UP with a rendering and No Money Mo Problems speculation fantasies. I might be too old to use this park by the time it eventually happens, but I definitely like the idea and the ever so slow progress to eventually make it happen.

Yeah, agreed, the quoted timetable is underwhelming, but good news is they have an agreement on the land and a start on the funding. It's a start! I hope they can get this going earlier with some more funding and acceleration of the Ultimate project in DT. Theoretically, this project could start earlier if the DT section is completed before the whole I-4 Ultimate project is built out.

FDOT committed $3.5 million in funding for the "Bridge District" park under the new I-4. Only problem is, they say this won't even start until the Ultimate I-4 project is done. Don't know how this works exactly, but couldn't they phase things with the DT portion of I-4 Ultimate and start it earlier? Would be a shame to wait 5 years when the other stuff like the soccer stadium, UCF, and maybe rest of Creative Village and Magic Entertainment Complex could start earlier. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-interstate-4-bridge-district-vote-under-i-20160523-story.html

Bulldogger, Is it that good? I have never eaten there before. I will have to try it out when it opens! Of course, trying to be at least a little bit healthy, so I may not want to eat there too often. . .

I saw signs up this morning for Dunkin' Donuts and the Philly Connection restaurant on the northeast corner of Cresent Central at Orange and Amelia. It's fast-food kinda stuff but works well there close to the courthouse. A lot of morning and lunch traffic there across the street from the parking garage and in between the Lynx Central Station and courthouse.

Per the Orlando Sentinel, the City is preparing to award the Colonial Pedestrian Overpass project to Southland Construction. This is the design with the curved overpass deck and the "iconic pylon" feature. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/brinkmann-on-business/os-colonial-overpass-bid-20160504-story.html

Another large donation: $1 million from BB&T bank: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/school-zone/os-ucf-downtown-donation-bbt-story.html Only 3 Million more from private donations to go to be fully funded.

The bridge is for the trail, not pedestrians. Virtually no pedestrians cross colonial at that spot, as there is nothing north of coloinial on Garland to cross for or from. Everybody on foot crosses at Orange or Magnolia. The main purpose of the overpass is to bring the OUT all the way in to downtown as a connector from DT Core/mass transit to outlying neighborhoods and redeveloping Ivanhoe & Mills area. Master planning has similar future plans for green bike/walking trails connecting to Cadyway, greenway, and others. I love the idea of a dedicated bridge for the trail, but honestly, most pedestrians are crossing at street leve and will continue to do so.

I think they are trying to tie it in to the Lynx Central Station for Sunrail and Lynx, which makes a lot of sense to me. The main goal is to have mass transit connect to downtown and have pedestrian corridors feeding from that. I agree that it should not go across the tracks a bunch of times, but would argue that it should stay on the west side of the tracks most of the way and tie in to the existing Gertrudes walk on the west side down to Church Street Station. It makes no sense to have the plan where the trail jogs over to State lane as it is shown on the expansion map. I don't know what the plan is around Ace Cafe, but putting the trail through there makes a lot more sense. Of course, they still have the western rail line through Parramore to go over if they stay on the west, but that probably has less traffic than the main Sunrail line and maybe they could build an elevated platform over it eventually.

I just posted that in Uptown thread too. Some interesting designs for the bridge and associated walkway.

Bungalower has an article up about the pedestrian bridge over Colonial. There are two proposals up for the Design-Build project from Southland Construction (HKS, Horizon) and Gibbs & Register (Borrelli, HDR) http://bungalower.com/2016/04/27/city-considering-colonial-pedestrian-overpass-bids/ Renderings of each, Southland on top, Gibbs & Register on bottom: Full proposal documents are linked on the Bungalower website.

Actually, that is exactly how this stadium became known as the "Citrus Bowl" to begin with. Long, long ago, the stadium was originally known as simply "Orlando Stadium". Then they began hosting the annual college football bowl game and it became the "Tangerine Bowl". In 1983, the Florida Department of Citrus became the title sponsor at a price of $250,000. The official name at the time was the "Florida Citrus Bowl" after that sponsorship, and the name "Citrus Bowl" just stuck after so many years in use. There were subsequent title sponsors for the bowl games themselves (Capital One Bowl, Russell Athletic Bowl, Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl, etc), but the name of the stadium itself always kept the "Citrus Bowl" name in common usage because of it's history until now. I know I will probably always still call it the Citrus Bowl, as will most people who grew up with that name.

I'm surprised by Orlando Central too. That would be cool if it is still a real project. Another tower to go along with Tremont on I-4 and starting to infill toward the north with BOA and the Courthouse. Also, that building would really fill in a gap along the skyline view from across lake Eola. The pedestal looks kinda funny though on the I-4 side.

I ride my bike under it often. There is a really wide sidewalk, so cars aren't a problem, but lots of homeless/panhandlers at times. It's probably about the same distance to Publix at Lake Eola as it is to this location from 55 West.

That would make for a very, uh, interesting supporters section. Hahaha. "Dale mi amor, Vamo vamo por favor, Banana Jelly Fuzzy Rainbow Hippopatamus. . . Dude, I can hear the ball moving, like an ant colony."

Back to Tremont, updated "dusk" rendering posted by Hunton Brady on their Facebook a couple of days ago. Of note, there are trees visible on the 18th floor lobby/bar/amenity deck level. Looks like a green roof outdoor patio overlooking the city. Cool! Source: https://www.facebook.com/HuntonBradyArchitects

Yes, it was much more traditional and looked like it took cues from similar existing building nearby in Suntrust and BOA. Hard to say if it would have been "better" than what was actually built, as it was just a concept, and a matter of taste anyway. Anyway, on topic here, I really like the Tremont design. I think it will look better here, and I love the concept of the amenity/bar level breaking up the tower and overlooking downtown and the Amway center. I think it will be a great addition to this area. It is modern, but a good design that can still tie in to the other diverse architectural styles in the area much better, IMHO. Here is original 55 West concept from Baker Barrios Website.

It's a matter of individual taste. I think it is lazy derivative med-revish architecture with poor massing and the odd looking "mustache-hat" on top. It all just seems incongruent to me. Any one of those things individually would be more tolerable. Together, the design, style, mass, colors, lighting, combine like Voltron to form the menacing Fat Conquistador figure looming over the gateway to our city. LOL. Honestly, hate is a strong word. I don't hate it, but it's not my idea of good architecture. I will say, however, that I like the ground floor and how they integrated into church street and the plaza across. That's good stuff. Everyone has their own taste and opinion, of course.

Something like this is what a lot of us meant by keeping the space open as a plaza, I think. Personally, I was not implying that it should be kept as a barren "green space" without trees. I meant an active plaza type environment with features that actually draw foot traffic and promote gathering. A market type concept along with DPAC and an art museum would combine synergistically to create a place where patrons of each would cross over to others and a real destination would thrive with activity. This makes a whole lot more sense than a hotel and an office building with maybe ground floor retail in an alley. I really like the canopied open areas and tying the "outside" into the building. Combine this with open colonnade or arcade type frontage on adjacent buildings similar to overhang on the DPAC design and you end up with an active space instead of a sterile destination that is only used at certain times for patrons of the hotel, DPAC, or local office workers at lunch.

I agree as well. It is like a new gateway to downtown with a nice looking building on that corner that leads to City Hall/DPAC area, and on I-4 east it is opposite the Amway center, and hopefully someday the Magic Complex will go up on the other side with similar modern building design for the hotel tower they were planning. Also a bonus that it blocks the fat conquistador a bit coming in on I-4. I would much rather look at this building as a new gateway after crossing under the 408.

I like the green space currently too. The renderings I have seen of the Dr. Phillips Center with developed hotels on either side of that parcel make it looked hemmed in and turn it into more of an alley than a space for gathering on a human scale. I think putting multi-story buildings on either side would be a mistake, but that was the way it has been planned since the beginning. I am kind of glad the hotel fell through. Ideally, the green space would stay open, and a museum could go adjacent to it. Perhaps they could acquire the lot directly to the south next to the 408/across from Aloft(old OUC building). That would turn the whole area into a "civic plaza" with City Hall, the Performing Arts Center, and the Museum of Art all centered around the green space. The space could then be used for art festivals, outdoor concerts, etc, throughout the year. I don't see why they feel the need to put another hotel on that property, considering you have Grand Bohemian, Aloft, and soon to be Tremont Tower all within a block of there.