Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium [Renovation Completed]

[JRS1]

Here's an idea:

build the new arena literally adjacent to the old one. give the old one a new facade (within reason) to match the new one.

use the new one for Magic games. use the old one for crap events and Magic practices.

connect both with a huge concourse. build the new one on the site of one of the parking lots nearby, and construct another parking garage to make up for the loss of those spaces.

then if you have both venues, the City can schedule events easier that would otherwise use a single arena. no overlapping of schedules. also, this way, tear down and what not would be cheaper and you could keep the court intact in between games, and keep the new arena newer for a longer period.

why waste the concrete superstructure of the O-Rena by tearing it down? It would be like having 2 large event halls in the same complex. You could have NBA and a concert in the same evening, or, NBA and the Preds in the same evening.

it could be very cool.

[Go Gators]

interesting idea.

[Dale]

Is the assumption that the new arena would be built on the parking lot in front of the original ?

[orlandonative]

It sure would help $$ wise since they already own the land.

[Dale]

It sure would help $$ wise since they already own the land.

Yes, and it's hard for me to envision where else downtown there'd be enough room.

[neon9]

I know the Monster Truck Show can't accept the bowl in its current state. We better put $252 million into the Citrus Bowl or we may lose it.

I'd hate to lose out to Speed World in Bithlo

Also, a guy I work with worked on the o-rena, he said they hit a large drainage pipe (unmapped) when they were constructing the thing. They ended up having to raise the finished floor a little to avoid disturbing it. It came from downtown so they couldn't just cut it off. Don't know how much that will affect the future plans for the building...

Edited July 20, 2006 by neon9

[wally2169]

Here's an idea:

build the new arena literally adjacent to the old one. give the old one a new facade (within reason) to match the new one.

use the new one for Magic games. use the old one for crap events and Magic practices.

connect both with a huge concourse. build the new one on the site of one of the parking lots nearby, and construct another parking garage to make up for the loss of those spaces.

then if you have both venues, the City can schedule events easier that would otherwise use a single arena. no overlapping of schedules. also, this way, tear down and what not would be cheaper and you could keep the court intact in between games, and keep the new arena newer for a longer period.

why waste the concrete superstructure of the O-Rena by tearing it down? It would be like having 2 large event halls in the same complex. You could have NBA and a concert in the same evening, or, NBA and the Preds in the same evening.

it could be very cool.

This is a great idea

It would create one hell of a structure

I do believe strongly that something new has to be built, whether or not from scratch or adjacent to the old and joining the two

One thing is certain, if they choose to just renovate that which is already there, the old arena would have to be completely gutted from the ground up

If that's the case, we are looking at about a 2 yr project which will most likely preclude the Magic playing there at all until completed

The team will need a temp home to conduct business as ususal

My hope is that a brand new arena with a unique design all it's own is built or as in the prior post, build the new one next door and then renovate the old and join them

Should be interesting, I hope it goes the right way

One thing I will also say, the Citrus Bowl had better look so damn good you could eat off the floor

The monster truck shows should require a formal dress code when all is completed

[bulldogger]

Here's an idea:

build the new arena literally adjacent to the old one.

They could use the old one more exclusively for indoor football, hockey, and/or soccer. It would be similar to the Vet Complex in Philly where they have everything in that huge parking lot.

[orlandonative]

I would assume the Predators will want in on some of that new action as well.

[facilities man]

Build the new arena in the North parking lot and incorporate lake dot as the focal point entryway off Colonial with a nice fountain in the middle of the lake. Then build a first class minor league baseball satdium in the South parking lot that has a dramtic view of the downtown skyline over the outfield wall. Then put a huge parking garage between the two where the existing arena is now with retail at street level and condos incorporated above in the parking structure.

Edited July 20, 2006 by facilities man

[Magicfan95]

The Preds want in the new arena, they've just kept quiet about it.

[demon]

Here's an idea:

build the new arena literally adjacent to the old one. give the old one a new facade (within reason) to match the new one.

use the new one for Magic games. use the old one for crap events and Magic practices.

connect both with a huge concourse. build the new one on the site of one of the parking lots nearby, and construct another parking garage to make up for the loss of those spaces.

then if you have both venues, the City can schedule events easier that would otherwise use a single arena. no overlapping of schedules. also, this way, tear down and what not would be cheaper and you could keep the court intact in between games, and keep the new arena newer for a longer period.

why waste the concrete superstructure of the O-Rena by tearing it down? It would be like having 2 large event halls in the same complex. You could have NBA and a concert in the same evening, or, NBA and the Preds in the same evening.

it could be very cool.

It's a great idea, but I don't think the Preds will want to play in the "B" Arena. I think if you save part of the TD Waterhouse and make it smaller so it's good for small concerts that would draw just under 10,000 you might have something.

[bulldogger]

The Preds want in the new arena, they've just kept quiet about it.

I hope they plan on forking over some dough like the Magic then. If not, that would be exactly why they are keeping quiet.

[mrh3]

Build the new arena in the North parking lot and incorporate lake dot as the focal point entryway off Colonial with a nice fountain in the middle of the lake. Then build a first class minor league baseball satdium in the South parking lot that has a dramtic view of the downtown skyline over the outfield wall. Then put a huge parking garage between the two where the existing arena is now with retail at street level and condos incorporated above in the parking structure.

That sounds great facilities man. I wonder if the power that be are monitoring this site???

[speck76]

Here's an idea:

build the new arena literally adjacent to the old one. give the old one a new facade (within reason) to match the new one.

use the new one for Magic games. use the old one for crap events and Magic practices.

connect both with a huge concourse. build the new one on the site of one of the parking lots nearby, and construct another parking garage to make up for the loss of those spaces.

then if you have both venues, the City can schedule events easier that would otherwise use a single arena. no overlapping of schedules. also, this way, tear down and what not would be cheaper and you could keep the court intact in between games, and keep the new arena newer for a longer period.

why waste the concrete superstructure of the O-Rena by tearing it down? It would be like having 2 large event halls in the same complex. You could have NBA and a concert in the same evening, or, NBA and the Preds in the same evening.

it could be very cool.

so....2 large areas of prime land no tbeing taxed.....2 vacant facilities on many nights (at least 1 vacant every night)

Take a look at Detroit, both Joe Louis Arena and Cobo Arena are downtown.....almost adjacent (separated by the Cobo Hall convention center)....neither get used too much, except for Red Wings Games and the occasional church revival....both lose all concerts The Palace 30 miles away in Auburn Hills.....

The old faciltiy needs to be torn down....if it was not good enough for The Magic and concerts right now (as stated many times here) it is not going to be suddenly good enough when a new facility is built.

[Violindude]

If we get the basketball team from Puerto Rico couldn't they take the T.D. Waterhouse? Has anyone heard anything about that team yet?

[JRS1]

so....2 large areas of prime land no tbeing taxed.....2 vacant facilities on many nights (at least 1 vacant every night)

Take a look at Detroit, both Joe Louis Arena and Cobo Arena are downtown.....almost adjacent (separated by the Cobo Hall convention center)....neither get used too much, except for Red Wings Games and the occasional church revival....both lose all concerts The Palace 30 miles away in Auburn Hills.....

The old faciltiy needs to be torn down....if it was not good enough for The Magic and concerts right now (as stated many times here) it is not going to be suddenly good enough when a new facility is built.

What makes the O-rena deficient is the skybox issue, the size, and the concessions area in the concourse. 18K is enough for any concert these days, so, tear down the exterior, incorporate the hallways level into a much larger complex which connects to the new arena, and use the old arena as a "Hall B" of sorts for other functions that might coincide with NBA dates. We've got the Preds and the new PR basketball team showing interest as well, and concerts and speaker events and what not. Also, with the new Marriott proposed to replace the old one, they could even build nearby and build their own convention space connecting as well to the complex; then you'd have a main arena, a secondary arena, and meeting rooms. Just like a 3-Hall PAC, except this would be 2 arenas and meeting rooms.

If they could figure out the logistics of it, they could incorporate the 2 arenas with common hallways connecting the two-- kind of like when you are at The Garden watching a play and when it gets out, you run into thousands of Knicks fans b/c that game just let out as well. the only thing missing would be the subway station.

THe Garden has multiple venues within; GWCC does as well; so does the OCCC oddly enough. THey already have the land-- all that's left is to use it and build more garages; it would eliminate most of the surface lots and encourage more nearby development, not that a single new arena wouldn't... I just think that simply tearing down a concrete arena, which would otherwise be a prized possession on any college campus, for instance, would be a serious waste of resources.

Like I said-- its just an idea to maximize what we've got with new construction.

[gumpking1]

This is a great idea

It would create one hell of a structure

I do believe strongly that something new has to be built, whether or not from scratch or adjacent to the old and joining the two

One thing is certain, if they choose to just renovate that which is already there, the old arena would have to be completely gutted from the ground up

If that's the case, we are looking at about a 2 yr project which will most likely preclude the Magic playing there at all until completed

The team will need a temp home to conduct business as ususal

My hope is that a brand new arena with a unique design all it's own is built or as in the prior post, build the new one next door and then renovate the old and join them

Should be interesting, I hope it goes the right wayI dont think we have to worry about the city redoing the td waterhouse.It would be like remodeling an old building and you still end up with an old arena.Also where would the magic play during this time Tampa?Personally i dont want to see the magic move out of town not even for 1 season.They might not come back!

One thing I will also say, the Citrus Bowl had better look so damn good you could eat off the floor

The monster truck shows should require a formal dress code when all is completed

[gumpking1]

What makes the O-rena deficient is the skybox issue, the size, and the concessions area in the concourse. 18K is enough for any concert these days, so, tear down the exterior, incorporate the hallways level into a much larger complex which connects to the new arena, and use the old arena as a "Hall B" of sorts for other functions that might coincide with NBA dates. We've got the Preds and the new PR basketball team showing interest as well, and concerts and speaker events and what not. Also, with the new Marriott proposed to replace the old one, they could even build nearby and build their own convention space connecting as well to the complex; then you'd have a main arena, a secondary arena, and meeting rooms. Just like a 3-Hall PAC, except this would be 2 arenas and meeting rooms.

If they could figure out the logistics of it, they could incorporate the 2 arenas with common hallways connecting the two-- kind of like when you are at The Garden watching a play and when it gets out, you run into thousands of Knicks fans b/c that game just let out as well. the only thing missing would be the subway station.

THe Garden has multiple venues within; GWCC does as well; so does the OCCC oddly enough. THey already have the land-- all that's left is to use it and build more garages; it would eliminate most of the surface lots and encourage more nearby development, not that a single new arena wouldn't... I just think that simply tearing down a concrete arena, which would otherwise be a prized possession on any college campus, for instance, would be a serious waste of resources.Well said

Like I said-- its just an idea to maximize what we've got with new construction.

[WeNeed2Progress]

When should we be expecting to see some proposal renderings? I cannot wait to see what ideas are being brainstormed for this project. Hopefully it will include fountains into the public square areas.

[JRS1]

I don't know, just drove by on Parramore last night and this am, checked out the O-rena. Maybe they should just demolish everything and start fresh-- fresh location... brand new everything.

[Magicfan95]

When should we be expecting to see some proposal renderings? I cannot wait to see what ideas are being brainstormed for this project. Hopefully it will include fountains into the public square areas.

Soon! There is a planning meeting in early August. The official presentation to the county commissioners is September 12th.

[wally2169]

God I hope they go overboard on this one

We need something stunning and huge and able to bring out huge amounts of people

I'm tired of Orlando being the neglected stepchild of FLA cities, it's our turn now

[mrh3]

I just found this article about the Astrodome's renovation. Interesting approach to an obsolete building.

Astrodome Renovation

[speck76]

I just found this article about the Astrodome's renovation. Interesting approach to an obsolete building.

Astrodome Renovation

Detroit has been looking for someone to redevelop the old Tiger Stadium for the last 6 years.....but nothing has come through....

Pontiac has been looking for someone to redevelop the Silverdome for the last 4 years...nothing has come through.

Arenas and Stadiums are built for a certain purpose, and redeveloping them into something else that makes the building efficient at its new purpose is often more expensive than building a new facility....