Dr. P Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center [Phase 2 Under Construction]

[FLheat]

Leverage. The church had it.

If the city wanted to build on the full site, they had to trade land with the church which is what accommodated their buildout

Yes, very christian of themselves to act only in the church's interest. The whole deal still has me fuming--the money they received and also the horrible design. You can't tell me there was no way to avoid a bump out to South Street?

[RedStar25]

Your fuming because of a real estate sale? They sold land, lost a building, and replaced it with a new Ministry building. A building in which and from which they minister to the people. So...

[Pete C]

I like the design of the new building.

[FLheat]

Your fuming because of a real estate sale? They sold land, lost a building, and replaced it with a new Ministry building. A building in which and from which they minister to the people. So...

No, I don't think the city acted the same way they would have in buying the property from a non-church entity. I think it was irresponsible to change a busy street like South Street and inconvenience and potentially risk the welfare of individuals because the church could not alter their building plans to accommodate the site. After seeing the completed project there is nothing special about the South street bump out that made it necessary. A true community participant would have taken reimbursement to make themselves whole--to me, the transaction made the church look greedy. The building the church lost never would have drawn a $25 million price had it not been on that site. Working toward the benefit of the community would have shown they are ministers to the people both inside and outside of the church doors.

[spenser1058]

No, I don't think the city acted the same way they would have in buying the property from a non-church entity. I think it was irresponsible to change a busy street like South Street and inconvenience and potentially risk the welfare of individuals because the church could not alter their building plans to accommodate the site. After seeing the completed project there is nothing special about the South street bump out that made it necessary. A true community participant would have taken reimbursement to make themselves whole--to me, the transaction made the church look greedy. The building the church lost never would have drawn a $25 million price had it not been on that site. Working toward the benefit of the community would have shown they are ministers to the people both inside and outside of the church doors.

Sorry, but I have to agree with Red Star on this one. There is no one who has been more supportive of a replacement for Bob Carr since 1978's refurb was supposed to be a "temporary" fix while plans FINALLY moved forward for a world-class PAC. But Carl Langford was reaching the end of his term and could have frankly cared less. Next up was Mayor Bill who, with Bob Hewitt and his Magic crew (along with a dogfight among the arts community about whether to try building the "small" arts first or to finally build a real PAC) spent the dollars available to build the first arena. Then came Glenda, who initially got distracted by a baseball stadium and then went into "frugal" mode to further her chances to be picked by Jeb for a Tallahassee job. Then we move on to Buddy, who almost immediately gave into the DeVos family and the Chamber to bump yet another arena (to replace one not quite 20 years old) in line ahead of a decrepit 80-year old auditorium and, then, just to make the bubbas at Florida Citrus Sports happy, almost put a stadium without a team ahead in line.

Through it all, as the decisions were made to build on the current site, FUMCO was waiting ever so patiently. Finally, due to much consternation among the congregation as the competing churches (especially First Pres) were updating their facilities and First Methodist was going through a rough patch of attracting new members (and let's not forget many of the FUMCO leaders are themselves FFO's). By the time FUMCO went ahead and spent the bucks to renovate its building on the other side of South St., it was very questionable when what we now know as DPAC would move forward. To their credit, Buddy and the Chamber crowd finally put together a deal (which we may add is so far only giving us half a PAC,remember), albeit rather late, and their tardiness was their fault, not FUMCO's. Should this have been done better and much more quickly? Absolutely. Is it FUMCO's fault it wasn't? Not in the least.

[John Hargrove]

Not to mention that others on this board have pointed out that the curve of South St would provide a traffic calming effect, which would contribute to making this area MORE pedestrian friendly. I actually like the curve. It looks nice, flows well, and does serve to make South feel a bit less dangerous. I thought it was strange at first, but I'm alright with it now.

[spenser1058]

Not to mention that others on this board have pointed out that the curve of South St would provide a traffic calming effect, which would contribute to making this area MORE pedestrian friendly. I actually like the curve. It looks nice, flows well, and does serve to make South feel a bit less dangerous. I thought it was strange at first, but I'm alright with it now.

Thank you for this, castor, I was going to add that but I knew I was already running long. Lately, everything the City does with roads seems to include traffic calming components (curves, bricks, roundabouts, allowing parking on both sides of narrow streets so you have to practically crawl through). I know it's important for a pedestrian-friendly city and, heaven knows, we have too many speedways with like 8 lanes across, but sometimes it does seem like overkill downtown of late. Having said that, South Street definitely needed something. Going to work in the morning used to require a NASCAR sponsor along that stretch.

[gibby]

I think it was a mistake to not convert South Street to two-way to Rosalind. Any three-lane, one-way road has a speedway feel to it, whether calming curves are installed or not.

[RedStar25]

No, I don't think the city acted the same way they would have in buying the property from a non-church entity. I think it was irresponsible to change a busy street like South Street and inconvenience and potentially risk the welfare of individuals because the church could not alter their building plans to accommodate the site. After seeing the completed project there is nothing special about the South street bump out that made it necessary. A true community participant would have taken reimbursement to make themselves whole--to me, the transaction made the church look greedy. The building the church lost never would have drawn a $25 million price had it not been on that site. Working toward the benefit of the community would have shown they are ministers to the people both inside and outside of the church doors.

Ahh... I see. Actually the plans were drawn up well after the site plan and land-swap were agreed on. The "bump" was actually reduced from the original proposal. You have to remember the land is what fetched the selling price not the building in question. However, the church spent a substantial amount of money to renovate the old F.I.S building when all parties had given up on the idea of a PAC and those costs needed to be recouped. With the new building the Church is in a much better position to expand its ministry outreach to the community and serve as a partner with the new DPAC (which is part of the buildings design).

I'm not sure what you mean by "...to make themselves whole...."

[gibby]

I noticed that one of the new trees (easternmost one) was gone this morning. The stump was still there and it looked like it had been hit by a car.

edit: Easternmost tree along north side of South Street.

Edited October 28, 2012 by gibby

[prahaboheme]

Over the past couple of days I've been thinking about the private development parcels flanking the DPAC Plaza. As we know, there is an effort to preserve the concrete modules on the Round Building, perhaps to incorporate them into the DPAC Plaza or future development somewhere else in downtown. I do hope that the Mayor steps up to the plate and works with preservationists to secure a piece of Orlando's architectural legacy. My fear, though, is that we will see a Jaymont Block 2.0, and that this building will be demolished without public input.

For those interested, Central Florida Modern will be hosting a fireside chat at the Round Building: http://www.centralfloridamodern.com/

This may be one of the last opportunities that we have to express our concern for the preservation of this building and it's heritage.

Moving beyond the Round Building, I've pondered what the private development on these parcels should look like. Ultimately, I draw inspiration from the Round Building itself, and a bit from America's most beloved pedestrian mall, Lincoln Rd. The Round Building's 60's Modern elements, as well as Orlando's Modern style heritage, could easily be drawn upon to create a statement about who we are as a city and where we are going.

I've been following a recent (re)development at Lincoln Rd Mall, the redevelopment and expansion of the Lincoln Theatre:

The vision: A statement building, at the intersection of South and Orange.

Streamline Moderne can work incredibly well on the DPAC plot, for several reasons:

1) It incorporates classical elements that compliment the City Hall Plaza, and the Grand Bohemian, but does not try to emulate them.

2) Contextual: Art Deco has a long history in Orlando

3) It lends well to the more contemporary elements of DPAC.

4) People like Art Deco.

5) It offers variety, both in store front uses (retail/restaurant), and architectural materials:

Wouldn't this look great at the corner of Magnolia and South Street?

I'd love to hear what others think.

Edited November 1, 2012 by prahaboheme

[RedStar25]

I like your thoughts but I absolutely hate that round building.

[jack]

If it was up to me, we would keep the building as is and build DPAC around it.

[Jernigan]

I agree that building around it could actually be done nicely.

As that's not looking to be the case - do we have an est. demo date?

[spenser1058]

I like your thoughts but I absolutely hate that round building.

The addition above the 2nd floor (the black glassy part) always looked cheesy to me, but the 1st two stories would definitely be a keeper. In terms of a historic narrative, however, American Federal didn't have the impact that First Federal or, even more so, First at Orlando did, so that lessens the sting a tad.

[Jernigan]

Canopy's installation brings arts-center milestone

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-dpac-arts-center-construction-20121129,0,2121204.story

 

Crews this weekend will hoist a massive steel support into place on the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, marking a major milestone in the center's three-year construction.

[spenser1058]

It really is fascinating how much this project is transforming that area already and this is only Phase 1. I drove by this morning and it's amazing.

Edited November 30, 2012 by spenser1058

[prahaboheme]

spencer, next time you are in the area, how about some pictures?  Especially from angles not captured via webcam.

Edited November 30, 2012 by prahaboheme

[alex]

Short, but interesting video update from Dyer at the construction site.

[FLClarkKent]

It really is fascinating how much this project is transforming that area already and this is only Phase 1. I drove by this morning and it's amazing.

I run by that way weekly. The thing is massive (which is saying something as it's just the first phase).

 

When they first cleared the lot, I thought "There's no way this will be bigger than Bob Carr." My first impression was quite wrong.

[John Hargrove]

I'll get photos this weekend. It's been a while since I went out there. I'll try to hit other places too (Steel House, Skyhouse, etc.)

[CaptainJustice]

That'll be awesome man.

I'll get photos this weekend. It's been a while since I went out there. I'll try to hit other places too (Steel House, Skyhouse, etc.)

[prahaboheme]

The roof installation is happening right now.  You can see it from the webcam.  Very impressive!

 

 

A couple shots from DPAC twitter page:

http://ow.ly/i/1bXU2

[nite owℓ]

The trusses have been installed, adding DPAC's signature feature to downtown's streetscape. In a previous article, the OS reported each truss weighs as much as 3 garbage trucks.

 

 

It would be nice to see a few shots of this from the ground - especially if someone has a camera with a wide angle lens.

 

* Just noticed the article stated there were a total of 12 trusses, but so far I only see 10.

Edited December 17, 2012 by nite owℓ

[sunshine]

Looks like an airport terminal