43 replies to this topic

[RedStar25]

FUMCO has Posted Renderings of their new Buildings.


Elevations

SouthWest Prospective

SouthEast Prospective

[prahaboheme]

Nothing special--the original is better than the addition.

[RedStar25]

The City had the Church tone down the building for some reason. But I think it has great potential.

[JRS1]

^^
I think we need to rack this one up and place it on the short list of notable Orlando buildings once it's built.  I like it; plus, it is a religious building so it probably tops the list of churches-- not with regards to classical architecture like the old one on Livingston; but it is nice neverthe less and would make a great neighbor to the dpac.

[FLheat]

I don't care for it.  It does nothing to compliment the church, or share any design elements.  It looks like a suburban warehouse building.

[RedStar25]

FLheat, on Feb 10 2009, 12:07 PM, said:

I don't care for it.  It does nothing to compliment the church, or share any design elements.  It looks like a suburban warehouse building.

Thats one expencive warehouse.... zoom in and look closer at the building. There is a lot more going on than what you see at first.

[bulldogger]

People moving boxes, forklifts, trucks backing up to docks.  j/k

[RedStar25]

bulldogger, on Feb 10 2009, 01:55 PM, said:

People moving boxes, forklifts, trucks backing up to docks.  j/k

Haha well then I guess you could call it the "Soul Factory".

Edited by RedStar25, 10 February 2009 - 08:22 PM.

[FLheat]

RedStar25, on Feb 10 2009, 01:50 PM, said:

Thats one expencive warehouse.... zoom in and look closer at the building. There is a lot more going on than what you see at first.

I am sure it is going to be amazing inside, and it is difficult to do an addition to a church, but the SE corner is what most people will see of the building and it could have been an oportunity to make a statement rather than the white wall again.  The west elevation (which I believe will be the entrance) could have been made more symetrical replicating the shape of the church on the right side which would have made the center area that visually would draw people in.

I was thinking this morning the Bob Carr with with a few minor alterations probably would make a nice church and campus.

[Downtown Steve]

Bumping this thread as a new one would have inevitably been created as the structure is going up.

Several photos now available in the pinned threads at the top for general downtown development and photos.

Edited by Downtown Steve, 02 August 2010 - 05:35 PM.

[prahaboheme]

Uproar over the realignment of South Street -- the street will no longer follow a straight grid pattern but will instead curve around the new Methodist church expansion:
WFTV story

I really do agree with the criticism, especially since part of the church expansion is also to demolish the building beside the Grand Bohemian Hotel and turn that into a parking lot.

[spenser1058]

prahaboheme, on 11 August 2010 - 08:24 PM, said:

Uproar over the realignment of South Street -- the street will no longer follow a straight grid pattern but will instead curve around the new Methodist church expansion:
WFTV story

I really do agree with the criticism, especially since part of the church expansion is also to demolish the building beside the Grand Bohemian Hotel and turn that into a parking lot.

With all due respect, I think this is much ado about nothing. I go to work every morning on South Street past the FUMCO site and, trust me, compared to the problems caused on Rosalind when the Vue was being built, it's NBD. Yes, the road is going to shift a bit but no, they're not cutting off the grid. Obviously a slow news day for Channel 9. As to the old Ledbetter classroom building across the street from the Sanctuary and behind the Grand Bo, that thing was old when I was a little kid - now it's positively ancient and well beyond its prime. Eventually there are ideas to develop the site but, for now, the older folks who are the church's leading demographic, have no desire to deal with parking garages. As small as that site is, once DPAC construction gets underway it will be hardly noticeable. I'm no fan of parking lots, but compared to the vast seas of asphalt all around downtown, this is a puddle.

Edited by spenser1058, 11 August 2010 - 10:02 PM.

[Downtown Steve]

I support some good ole Traffic Calming.

Love that the clip ended with a shot of City Hall with the "Sunrail will move Central Florida forward" banner.  

Perfect!

[castorvx]

Yeah .. I drive along South in the morning all the time.  It's not bad at all.  Where are those people used to driving? I didn't even realize people considered this an issue.

But yeah, slow news day, etc.  there's more curve in the orange ave/south st intersection than will be in that bend.

[prahaboheme]

spenser1058, on 11 August 2010 - 09:18 PM, said:

With all due respect, I think this is much ado about nothing. I go to work every morning on South Street past the FUMCO site and, trust me, compared to the problems caused on Rosalind when the Vue was being built, it's NBD.

I agree -- that was a rather dopey argument but my point is not the construction is causing disruption but that the street grid is being unnecessarily shifted for a church plaza.  This is not necessary with all the land they have for development.  I understand that older people do not want to contend with parking garages but this is an urban environment and they will deal.  Parking lots must be eliminated completely (see:  South Beach) for downtown Orlando to be a true urban center.  Even one parking lot disrupts an urban fabric.

spenser1058, on 11 August 2010 - 09:18 PM, said:

As to the old Ledbetter classroom building across the street from the Sanctuary and behind the Grand Bo, that thing was old when I was a little kid - now it's positively ancient and well beyond its prime. Eventually there are ideas to develop the site but, for now, the older folks who are the church's leading demographic, have no desire to deal with parking garages. As small as that site is, once DPAC construction gets underway it will be hardly noticeable. I'm no fan of parking lots, but compared to the vast seas of asphalt all around downtown, this is a puddle.

It's not a small site -- the parking lot footprint is larger than the Grand Bohemian.  "Eventual plans" could mean anything.

[spenser1058]

prahaboheme, on 12 August 2010 - 08:42 AM, said:

I agree -- that was a rather dopey argument but my point is not the construction is causing disruption but that the street grid is being unnecessarily shifted for a church plaza.  This is not necessary with all the land they have for development.  I understand that older people do not want to contend with parking garages but this is an urban environment and they will deal.  Parking lots must be eliminated completely (see:  South Beach) for downtown Orlando to be a true urban center.  Even one parking lot disrupts an urban fabric.



It's not a small site -- the parking lot footprint is larger than the Grand Bohemian.  "Eventual plans" could mean anything.

Well, as Downtown Steve points out, one good thing to come from the shift is some very important traffic calming. South Street is a traffic engineering nightmare from the 1960's that cried out for something to slow down the racetrack nature of it, so actually this is something of a win-win, imho.

As for downtown Orlando being South Beach, I sure hope not - they have different purposes. And given that First Methodist has been part of the downtown fabric for over 125 years (and some of those elderly folks you so easily dismiss for a good chunk of that time), I suspect they have every right to participate in the decision making process on this. A "true urban center," as Richard Florida points out, happens organically, not by Robert Moses-style imposed government fiat (he is of course an acolyte of Jane Jacobs). This compromise has come from people who have been part of this block for a long, long time. I can accept such a compromise without difficulty.

[prahaboheme]

spenser, I suspect that curve in South Street will not have the traffic calming feature that you seem to think it will.  The curve is so slight that it will only serve to create a small plaza for the church.  True traffic calming is achieved through a variety of other proven devices:  Traffic Calming 101

As you can surely understand, South Beach is merely an example of an urban center.  Whether you choice to like it or not is inconsequential, though it is debatable if downtown Orlando and South Beach actually do have "different purposes."  I use it as an example because it is one of the few urban environments in Florida, but I could have used any other (Charleston, Boston, Santa Fe, Paris) because the bones of urbanity are always the same.

And just to be clear, I am not "dismissing" the elderly who belong to this church, I'm dismissing the notion that the parking lots are necessary (which they are not).

[prahaboheme]

[prahaboheme]

[mrh3]

RedStar25, on 09 February 2009 - 07:46 PM, said:

FUMCO has Posted Renderings of their new Buildings.


Elevations

SouthWest Prospective

SouthEast Prospective

Yuck. Looks like any random nondescript modern office building. I wish they'd hired that firm out of Atlanta that does really cool retro ecclesiastical buildings.