UCF's new Performing arts center and music hall

[Migman]

I'm glad to see Addison demolished.

[Jernigan]

Colburn Hall is on there... its not the building on the right side. That is another new building for the college of arts and humanities... Colburn is the one next to that. Both the courtyard and the new building are currently parking lots.

They started construction on the new parking garage to replace all of these lost spaces this week. Hopefully that means this project will start soon as well...

aent - not to get in a pissing match on my 3rd post on here - but really if you look at that rendering - it is definitely Colburn Hall with the new glass thing on top right there on the right of the courtyard. The building next to that on the rendering is Howard Phillips Hall which is ecidenced by the sidewalks going to the garage as well as being right across from the Washington Center (bookstore, chickfila etc). Also the placement of the building in question to the Honors College also lines up with Colburn Hall.

The only thing removed from this photo would possibly be the Rehearsal Hall but it might be there under the trees and out of sight behind Colburn Hall.

Glad to hear they have begun construction on the new garage!

[cwetteland]

aent - not to get in a pissing match on my 3rd post on here - but really if you look at that rendering - it is definitely Colburn Hall with the new glass thing on top right there on the right of the courtyard. The building next to that on the rendering is Howard Phillips Hall which is ecidenced by the sidewalks going to the garage as well as being right across from the Washington Center (bookstore, chickfila etc). Also the placement of the building in question to the Honors College also lines up with Colburn Hall.

The only thing removed from this photo would possibly be the Rehearsal Hall but it might be there under the trees and out of sight behind Colburn Hall.

Glad to hear they have begun construction on the new garage!

DT ... I think aent has it right. If you start at the reflecting pond and go immediately beside it ... you get Phillips hall. There is another building between that building and the one with that glass roof. That's colburn. In fact, you can see the recital room directly behind Colburn ... (not behind the glass roofed building).

[Migman]

I think a little Photoshop is in order to clear up all the confusion surrounding Colburn Hall.

On a side note, I'm really glad to see Addison Place demolished. Can't wait to see all the communities finished. Traffic is going to be a much bigger beotch, though.

[cwetteland]

I think a little Photoshop is in order to clear up all the confusion surrounding Colburn Hall.

On a side note, I'm really glad to see Addison Place demolished. Can't wait to see all the communities finished. Traffic is going to be a much bigger beotch, though.

Thanks. While there's been a talk about the "glass roof building" being new ... what it is supposed to be (just a place holder?) ... when will it be built? I don't think it was part of the new PAC compond.

I hope they add some ped bridge(s) over Alafaya for the new communities. I see students trying to cross at Alafaya and University and it looks scary.

[aent]

Thanks. While there's been a talk about the "glass roof building" being new ... what it is supposed to be (just a place holder?) ... when will it be built? I don't think it was part of the new PAC compond.

I hope they add some ped bridge(s) over Alafaya for the new communities. I see students trying to cross at Alafaya and University and it looks scary.

Its the arts and humanities building. Funding is requested for it in 2012 but it will probably be a lot longer then that as pretty much everything is getting delayed. I don't think there really is a plan for it to look anything like that... the previous PDF also had plans for another theater in front of the arts complex (dedicated, larger theater bulding with no classrooms) as well as a museum, and also a band building to fill the space between alafaya and gemini. I'm sure all of these projects are very, very far off unless some very nice donors step up and the government allocates some more money to the school.

[Jernigan]

Wow - my apologies to aent and thanks to Migman. I was looking at the grass in front of Phillips Hall and thought it was the reflecting pond (making Phillips Millican in my mind). Good call!

Glad to see even another building planned for over there. That part of campus will be fantastic in a few years.

[Jernigan]

Wow - my apologies to aent and thanks to Migman. I was looking at the grass in front of Phillips Hall and thought it was the reflecting pond (making Phillips Millican in my mind). Good call!

Glad to see even another building planned for over there. That part of campus will be fantastic in a few years.

[cwetteland]

... I was looking at the grass in front of Phillips Hall and thought it was the reflecting pond ...

Understandable, Downtown Knight. In the picture, they did paint that grass blue.

[aent]

Traffic is going to be a much bigger beotch, though.

Yeah... hopefully the Rouse Rd expansion and also Woodbury extension (people driving all the way around on SR 50 should take that instead of alafaya to get to UCF and research park) and expansion should help relieve Alafaya a bit to be able to better handle these new complexes... they were paving the new northbound lanes on rouse today so they should start redoing the southbound lanes very soon, so that project looks like its around 50% done.

BTW, a little correction... it looks like what they are building where the garage is supposed to go actually isn't the garage quite yet... it looks like its a utility building (Thermal Energy Storage Facility)? I'm not sure but its a circular building and the contractor is the same as the one for that one so it looks like it is that... but I don't think this was where it was supposed to go... http://www.sustainable.ucf.edu/?q=node/17

[codypet]

I got an email from UCF today saying they're starting construction on the performing arts center May 9th.

[prahaboheme]

^at least someone is starting a performing arts center

[tm68]

A new football stadium, new arena, new medical school, and new PAC; all in the last several years. Truly amazing accomplishments for a not for profit -- the city could learn a thing or two. Hats off to Mr. Hitt.

[corpkid]

A new football stadium, new arena, new medical school, and new PAC; all in the last several years. Truly amazing accomplishments for a not for profit -- the city could learn a thing or two. Hats off to Mr. Hitt.

I agree - the University is really a great place! I'm going to be sad to leave next year when I wrap up my degree. Figure if I leave now, then I can come back in a few years to teach there! Well at least I can hope. I'll probably end up in Bismark or something...

What other universities compare to this (this is a question)... I've visited several, and they are MUCH, MUCH smaller and don't offer the same feel or amenities that UCF does. Are there others like or better than UCF? By this I mean, UCF feels like a little city - lots to do, eat, drink, see, etc. FSU was pretty cool, but I've only been there on game day. UF is neat, but in the middle of nowhere... etc...

[lala67]

I lived in Gainesville as a kid and loved it. It was a town where I could walk or ride my bike everywhere. The campus itself is pretty large since it's a land grant college. I confess that I'm not terribly familiar with UCF but it strikes me as mostly a commuter campus and not much of a city in its own right, though that is changing with all the new housing coming in.

I went to FAU in Boca in the late 80s. It's main campus is similar to UCF though it's student population isn't nearly as large as UCF's. I think USF is probably fairly similar as well.

[aent]

I lived in Gainesville as a kid and loved it. It was a town where I could walk or ride my bike everywhere. The campus itself is pretty large since it's a land grant college. I confess that I'm not terribly familiar with UCF but it strikes me as mostly a commuter campus and not much of a city in its own right, though that is changing with all the new housing coming in.

I went to FAU in Boca in the late 80s. It's main campus is similar to UCF though it's student population isn't nearly as large as UCF's. I think USF is probably fairly similar as well.

UCF is far from a commuter campus... it is by far the most pedestrian oriented campus in the state, and probably one of the most in the nation. UCF has over 6200 beds on campus (and the new housing project will bring it right under 7000), and the vast majority of the remaining students live in student oriented housing communities right by the university on Alafaya and University. East Orlando/UCF Area has kind of morphed into its own college town/area. The campuses are also pretty similiar sizes...

UF, which has a higher enrollment, has about 7,500 beds... so its a pretty similiar number. FAU has about 2400 students on campus, and is mostly attended by locals who actual commute from their home with there parents. UF and UCF have much more brick construction while FAU and USF have much more concrete and stucco in their designs. UCF's campus is definetly the most well planned in the state by far, and I'd say the nicest as well, although that obviously depends on your preferred style of building. UCF's style isn't really all too similiar to much else in the state...

Here's a little update on UCF campus construction:

A new police station ("public safety center") is beginning construction in 2 weeks. Its supposed to be a 3 story building that is being built right next to the current police station. Partnership 3 is beginning construction by the end of the month as well. Partnership 3 is being built adjacent to Partnership 2 and will be a twin of it...

Performing arts center is now under construction and it looks like Physical Sciences phase 2 is starting as well.

The thermal energy storage tank now has a roof and walls complete... it looks like it just needs a facade... the University/Alfaya trail intersection expansion has been completed, and it looks like they are now burying all of the power lines in front of the campus and additional palm trees are being planted. There is supposed to be a project that redoes all of the entrances to the campus coming up and it looks like this is the first step of it. I believe the Morgridge International Reading Center building right in front of campus is also scheduled for construction in the coming months, so pretty much all of the entrances to the campus should be seeing major changes very soon. They also ripped out the half circle wall in front of the arena and are planning to pave that area to provide additional space, which should allow for a bigger ice rink this winter. Also the Nature's Table Cafe that went out of business by the arena is finally being replaced by a Sushi restaurant called Koyoto that is now under construction....

[cwetteland]

UCF is far from a commuter campus... it is by far the most pedestrian oriented campus in the state, and probably one of the most in the nation. UCF has over 6200 beds on campus (and the new housing project will bring it right under 7000), and the vast majority of the remaining students live in student oriented housing communities right by the university on Alafaya and University. East Orlando/UCF Area has kind of morphed into its own college town/area. The campuses are also pretty similiar sizes...

UF, which has a higher enrollment, has about 7,500 beds... so its a pretty similiar number. FAU has about 2400 students on campus, and is mostly attended by locals who actual commute from their home with there parents. UF and UCF have much more brick construction while FAU and USF have much more concrete and stucco in their designs. UCF's campus is definetly the most well planned in the state by far, and I'd say the nicest as well, although that obviously depends on your preferred style of building. UCF's style isn't really all too similiar to much else in the state...

Here's a little update on UCF campus construction:

A new police station ("public safety center") is beginning construction in 2 weeks. Its supposed to be a 3 story building that is being built right next to the current police station. Partnership 3 is beginning construction by the end of the month as well. Partnership 3 is being built adjacent to Partnership 2 and will be a twin of it...

Performing arts center is now under construction and it looks like Physical Sciences phase 2 is starting as well.

The thermal energy storage tank now has a roof and walls complete... it looks like it just needs a facade... the University/Alfaya trail intersection expansion has been completed, and it looks like they are now burying all of the power lines in front of the campus and additional palm trees are being planted. There is supposed to be a project that redoes all of the entrances to the campus coming up and it looks like this is the first step of it. I believe the Morgridge International Reading Center building right in front of campus is also scheduled for construction in the coming months, so pretty much all of the entrances to the campus should be seeing major changes very soon. They also ripped out the half circle wall in front of the arena and are planning to pave that area to provide additional space, which should allow for a bigger ice rink this winter. Also the Nature's Table Cafe that went out of business by the arena is finally being replaced by a Sushi restaurant called Koyoto that is now under construction....

Good post. I was looking at the list of surrounding complexes (mostly either owned, operated or under some aggreement with the school). Combined with the on campus units it's nearing 20,000 beds. There are three large compounds planned or under construction. Two on Alafaya (one under construction and one site cleared) and one at the entrance to Carillon. These will add several thousand more units. And still we aren't counting students who live in the many rented houses around. UCF will always have a lot of commuters only because it is in a large metro area (much like UCLA and USC have commuters) but it has more non-commuters than most universities. UCF is the 6th largest university at over 50,000 students. Over 35,000 attend the main campus, and of those only about 1/3 are commuters.

[Jaybee]

"UCF is far from a commuter campus... it is by far the most pedestrian oriented campus in the state"

ROTFL

[prahaboheme]

^touche -- part of being "pedestrian" is how something integrates into its surroundings. For UCF, this is nearly impossible.

Also, I much prefer the Southern Gothic facades of UF's campus to UCFs humdrum "collegiate" style. It's not bad, but it's far from great.

[scottb411]

I lived in Gainesville as a kid and loved it. It was a town where I could walk or ride my bike everywhere. The campus itself is pretty large since it's a land grant college. I confess that I'm not terribly familiar with UCF but it strikes me as mostly a commuter campus and not much of a city in its own right, though that is changing with all the new housing coming in.

I went to FAU in Boca in the late 80s. It's main campus is similar to UCF though it's student population isn't nearly as large as UCF's. I think USF is probably fairly similar as well.

The idea of UCF being a commuter school was true in the late 80's and it was a commuter school then but that all changed in the 90's and now UCF is the second hardest public university in the state of Florida to get into after UF with over 50,000 students. Some of the old perceptions take awhile to go away but it's been far from a commuter school for a very long time. With the new arena and the concerts it holds and sports complex, it is becoming a beacon of activity in east Orange county. Since it opened a year and a half ago, the UCF arena has had artist like Elton John, Carrie Underwood, Dolly Parton, and Fall Out Boy that have played there and have Robin Williams lined up in October. The fact that they have an on-campus stadium now makes all of the difference as well. Their first game in the stadium was against Texas and Miami is playing at UCF in 2009.

UCF is awesome!

[demon]

UCF is far from a commuter campus... it is by far the most pedestrian oriented campus in the state, and probably one of the most in the nation. UCF has over 6200 beds on campus (and the new housing project will bring it right under 7000), and the vast majority of the remaining students live in student oriented housing communities right by the university on Alafaya and University. East Orlando/UCF Area has kind of morphed into its own college town/area. The campuses are also pretty similiar sizes...

UF, which has a higher enrollment, has about 7,500 beds... so its a pretty similiar number. FAU has about 2400 students on campus, and is mostly attended by locals who actual commute from their home with there parents. UF and UCF have much more brick construction while FAU and USF have much more concrete and stucco in their designs. UCF's campus is definetly the most well planned in the state by far, and I'd say the nicest as well, although that obviously depends on your preferred style of building. UCF's style isn't really all too similiar to much else in the state...

Here's a little update on UCF campus construction:

A new police station ("public safety center") is beginning construction in 2 weeks. Its supposed to be a 3 story building that is being built right next to the current police station. Partnership 3 is beginning construction by the end of the month as well. Partnership 3 is being built adjacent to Partnership 2 and will be a twin of it...

Performing arts center is now under construction and it looks like Physical Sciences phase 2 is starting as well.

The thermal energy storage tank now has a roof and walls complete... it looks like it just needs a facade... the University/Alfaya trail intersection expansion has been completed, and it looks like they are now burying all of the power lines in front of the campus and additional palm trees are being planted. There is supposed to be a project that redoes all of the entrances to the campus coming up and it looks like this is the first step of it. I believe the Morgridge International Reading Center building right in front of campus is also scheduled for construction in the coming months, so pretty much all of the entrances to the campus should be seeing major changes very soon. They also ripped out the half circle wall in front of the arena and are planning to pave that area to provide additional space, which should allow for a bigger ice rink this winter. Also the Nature's Table Cafe that went out of business by the arena is finally being replaced by a Sushi restaurant called Koyoto that is now under construction....

Don't forget the Med School.

[lala67]

and it's campus which is within walking distance of the main campus?

Even with all the progress made at UCF, it's still not what I'd call a pedestrian campus. With 50,000 students, they're not all living on campus and they're certainly not walking or riding their bikes to class. I have friends that own homes in those subdivisions someone mentioned as being full of rentals now. That's a problem in G'ville as well. It's a problem b/c you end up with what ammounts to a multifamily density in a home designed for a single family. Not 6-8 adults with a vehicle each. Most of those homes aren't even on sewer either. Creates a lot of conflicts.

I'd say G'ville has a much better grid system and a city surrounding the campus. UCF is a great site if you look at it in a vacuum, but considering the surrounding area, it's still very much a suburban style campus.

and bring back the damn disc golf course!

[aent]

and it's campus which is within walking distance of the main campus?

Even with all the progress made at UCF, it's still not what I'd call a pedestrian campus. With 50,000 students, they're not all living on campus and they're certainly not walking or riding their bikes to class. I have friends that own homes in those subdivisions someone mentioned as being full of rentals now. That's a problem in G'ville as well. It's a problem b/c you end up with what ammounts to a multifamily density in a home designed for a single family. Not 6-8 adults with a vehicle each. Most of those homes aren't even on sewer either. Creates a lot of conflicts.

I'd say G'ville has a much better grid system and a city surrounding the campus. UCF is a great site if you look at it in a vacuum, but considering the surrounding area, it's still very much a suburban style campus.

and bring back the damn disc golf course!

The disc golf course was rebuilt right after the original one was destroyed... the new one is on the corner of Orion/Gemini...

http://www.green.ucf.edu/landManagement/golf.php

There is a bit of redevelopment effort going on in the area, and all of the new development is MUCH more dense. As previously mentioned, the 3 new apartment complexes are much more dense, with parking garages for parking. The one across from Central Florida Blvd also has proposed a pedestrian bridge over Alafaya... I'm not sure if they are still planning that for a future phase... And NorthView is definitely designed to be walkable into the main campus. Hopefully these new complexes will start a trend and pull some of the people out of the residential neighborhoods from the homes being rented. The projects under construction now are adding 6000 new student beds to the immediate area.

[lala67]

hey, thanks for the update on the golf course, that's great news, will forward it on to my buddies. Also, I didn't mean for my earlier post as a knock on UCF, I think UCF is being pretty innovative in developing housing near and on its campus and they have made great strides. The County is responsible for the development pattern in which UCF is located. I wish the county could think beyond roadway widening and stripping out its corridors with commercial development.

Another question for you aent, what's the status of the arboretum? I had heard of some controversy about it being eliminated at some point. Still true?

[aent]

hey, thanks for the update on the golf course, that's great news, will forward it on to my buddies. Also, I didn't mean for my earlier post as a knock on UCF, I think UCF is being pretty innovative in developing housing near and on its campus and they have made great strides. The County is responsible for the development pattern in which UCF is located. I wish the county could think beyond roadway widening and stripping out its corridors with commercial development.

Another question for you aent, what's the status of the arboretum? I had heard of some controversy about it being eliminated at some point. Still true?

The controversy you heard was probably the removal of the majority of the plants between Engineering 3 and Gemini out, nearly all of the plants in that area have been moved out of there and into other locations on campus. However, they are now beginning to replace it with their new concept for that area... In the master plan there are a few pieces that will be removed (there has been plans for a road from the entrance of garage C to the road the softball stadium is on with some "partnership"/research buildings along it), but large portions of it are protected. While the master plan does mention a possibility for that area, there are no plans in the the 10 year building plan for anything there. I think the county did plan the area pretty poorly, and I hope more of the single family homes along Alafaya in that area get knocked down and replaced by more, higher density and hopefully fancier stuff. I also think the east side with all those single family homes is also a major disappointment, not leaving much opportunity for an entrance on that side of campus at all.

Seminole County was trying to push UCF to reduce the number of beds in Northview (although they gave in and let UCF do the 600)... and the new complex across from Central Florida Blvd was originally supposed to be 6-7 stories instead of 4...