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Council OKs contract to design fire station

Orlando Business Journal Article

SUMMARY:

As most of us already know, Fire Station Number 1, located on Downtown Orlando's South Street, is moving to the site of the old Lynx bus terminal north of 55 West between Pine Street and Central Avenue to make way for the new performing arts center. Orlando City Council approved a contract with Wharton Smith Inc. for their design-build services. The fire station itself will be 2-stories tall with 56,000 square feet of space. The airspace above it will be leased to Pizzuti, whose is proposing to add 6 loft-style floors of Class A office space with exposed mechanicals, aiming to attract technology companies. The LEED-certified building, tentatively being called "The Fire House," will be 8-stories tall and feature a total amount of 181,000 square feet of space.

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I remember reading that one reason the city only recieved one bid on this project (and someone in the know can correct me if I'm mistaken) is that the idea of living and working and sleeping above a noisy firehouse wasn't all that palatable for a lot of people. For me, I think it sounds like a dream come true. Oh, wait. My dream is sleeping in the firehouse. Never mind.

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They could have at least tried to attract retail/restaurant space above the firehouse. C'mon, how cool of a "Firehouse" themed bar or restaurant there could've been? I'm sure insurance rates for both retail and restaurants would be significantly lower considering their proximity to the firehouse. At least it's LEED design sounds interesting. Any way to persuade someone to try and add floors by luring restaurant and retail tenants? Given 55W residents may need more amenities closeby.

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I remember reading that one reason the city only recieved one bid on this project (and someone in the know can correct me if I'm mistaken) is that the idea of living and working and sleeping above a noisy firehouse wasn't all that palatable for a lot of people. For me, I think it sounds like a dream come true. Oh, wait. My dream is sleeping in the firehouse. Never mind.
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Even with the few details we have about this project, I think it'll be really good for downtown. Why?

-It replaces the pink bus station eyesore.

-It's much-needed infill in the downtown core.

-It's a new office building....we haven't had a lot of those built recently.

-Built to LEED standards.

-Even though it's not very tall, a mid-rise like this still can contribute a lot to the skyline and streetlife.

-With the city behind the construction of a new fire station, this is a project that will actually come to fruition. And probably sooner rather than later.

-It's not an overly ambitious proposal to try and fill 6 floors of office space (as opposed to, say, 30 floors). This will be built.

Not to mention constructing this new fire station frees up the current fire station site for the new performing arts center.

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Haha..I was thinking about using the Pompidou as an example in my post but opted out of it. But yeah, that was running through my head as well, only with the utility lines being exposed inside of the building.

I'm expecting to see a proposal along the lines of:

project-1101nya.jpgfirst_and_main.jpg

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I can't see a glass look with fire trucks. Fireman, I'm pretty sure, like the brick and mortar. It looks strong and sturdy and is more representative of themselves. I would expect more of the top part to look like the building that the Orlando Weekly was using. Red brick and large windows.

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I think it should be red brick with arched windows and a very traditional old fashioned look esprcially given it's location on that block of Pine St.

It could still have a modern feel to it, while at the same time harkening back to the days of the old fashioned red brick fire house. Maybe utilize some rounded corners, dark smoked glass, etc.

Downtown Orlando is so much in need of more of those type of buildings to give the place a bit more of a historical feel.

This is a great opportunity to get something nice in that area.

This is an example of kind of what I'm hoping to see above the bottom fire station level...

redbrk06.jpgredbrk07.jpg

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