Orlando Centroplex's Future

[Draculus]

Does anybody know what the plan is after the Events Center opens? All I have ever heard is that Amway would be torn down. That brings the question... what will become (or what would you like to see) of the Orlando Centroplex area?

I was thinking, seeing as there already is the law school close to that area along with OCPS headquarters, why not build a high school? The land is there. Of course that is most definitely out of the question with OCPS's budget problems. But it would do a lot for Parramore if they would put in a school along with a downtown community center (or a new YMCA). It would add a lot to downtown seeing as we haven't had a high school in the downtown area for years (since 1952). Now we just have Boone and Edgewater, that are just on the outskirts of downtown.

What do you all think? Share your ideas or any knowledge on the Centroplex Area.

[Pieson]

I do believe a "creative village" was proposed to go there

that might be all but a pipe dream now, but I always certainly liked that idea

Centroplex

I hope that link works,

but I was always a fan of the proposed creative village

[prahaboheme]

I would hope that, whatever the plan is, it involves reconnecting the street grid. Additionally, expanding the lake park that is already there and building up around it could create a nice, new space in downtown Orlando. There is really a lot of potential for that area.

[JRS1]

House of Moves and UCF are both there now...

[jack]

No public school unless it is a charter schoo. That pesky desegregation order from the 60's. Call it what you want, but anything similar to the Creative Village will work for me. Just intergrate it into downtown.

[JFW657]

Personally. I'd like to see someone come up with a creative use for the current arena & leave it there for another 20 years or so. I like the building.

[mrh3]

No public school unless it is a charter schoo. That pesky desegregation order from the 60's. Call it what you want, but anything similar to the Creative Village will work for me. Just intergrate it into downtown.

What specifically does the "pesky desegregation order from the 60's" mean, Jack? Is it just an old law still on the books?

[jack]

The lawsuit that the NCAA filed in the 60's is still in effect ad OCPS has to prove that it has met all of the issues of the lawsuit. So no schools can be built in Parramore unless it is a Charter School. There was a piece in the Sentinel today from the local head of the NCAA of why he does not believe it should be lifted.

[JRS1]

Personally. I'd like to see someone come up with a creative use for the current arena & leave it there for another 20 years or so. I like the building.

I was told that UCF still uses their old arena for practices.

[JFW657]

The lawsuit that the NCAA filed in the 60's is still in effect ad OCPS has to prove that it has met all of the issues of the lawsuit. So no schools can be built in Parramore unless it is a Charter School. There was a piece in the Sentinel today from the local head of the NCAA of why he does not believe it should be lifted.

What possible interest could the National Collegiate Athletic Association have in what kind of school gets built in the Parramore section of Orlando?

Or did you mean the NAACP?

[JFW657]

I was told that UCF still uses their old arena for practices.

Yeah, not much else they could do with that place.

I'm hoping for something a little grander for the old O-rena.

Maybe some kind of attraction like an Arabian Nights or Medieval Times kind of place.

World's biggest nightclub, maybe?

I wouldn't be surprised if some Southern Baptist group bought it & turned it into a mega church like Joel Osteen did in Houston.

[jack]

The NCAA filed a lawsuit because too many athletes from Oralando did not have the necessary skills to make it in college. Just kidding, I meant NAACP.

[aent]

I was told that UCF still uses their old arena for practices.

The UCF arena was partially renovated to include additional office space for the volleyball/basketball programs, convert the upper levels on both sides to practice basketball courts, and the main arena did have a few small improvements as well. They still do many smaller concerts and smaller events in the old arena. Volleyball plays there and I believe last week they had the high school basketball championship there. They also host a bunch of events for student organizations and events to try to bring people to the surrounding retail (they have a dodgeball tournament coming up in there soon).

The original plans for the arena included a more thorough renovation of the arena space, a brand new lobby, and a little bit more retail along the sides of it... However, they ran out of funds and I don't know if they ever plan to complete it. It does look a little weird with the sudden ending of the plaza where they ran out of the money (where the old arena lobby was supposed to go), but they are making good use of the old space with many concerts and other smaller events. It now only seats around 2,600 people rather then 5,100.

[prahaboheme]

I wouldn't be surprised if some Southern Baptist group bought it & turned it into a mega church like Joel Osteen did in Houston.

That is a truly frightening proposal for the future of downtown. Let's hope it gets torn down and a true, dense urban neighborhood rises in this space.

[codypet]

The UCF arena was partially renovated to include additional office space for the volleyball/basketball programs, convert the upper levels on both sides to practice basketball courts, and the main arena did have a few small improvements as well. They still do many smaller concerts and smaller events in the old arena. Volleyball plays there and I believe last week they had the high school basketball championship there. They also host a bunch of events for student organizations and events to try to bring people to the surrounding retail (they have a dodgeball tournament coming up in there soon).

The original plans for the arena included a more thorough renovation of the arena space, a brand new lobby, and a little bit more retail along the sides of it... However, they ran out of funds and I don't know if they ever plan to complete it. It does look a little weird with the sudden ending of the plaza where they ran out of the money (where the old arena lobby was supposed to go), but they are making good use of the old space with many concerts and other smaller events. It now only seats around 2,600 people rather then 5,100.

Is the old arena at UCF what they refer to as the venue?

[JFW657]

That is a truly frightening proposal for the future of downtown. Let's hope it gets torn down and a true, dense urban neighborhood rises in this space.

Well, given the fact that there's already a huge Baptist church just a couple of miles up the road, I don't think you have a lot to worry about. But I'd still like to see somebody come with an original idea for the building & have it stay there. But that's just me.

[demon]

Does anybody know what the plan is after the Events Center opens? All I have ever heard is that Amway would be torn down. That brings the question... what will become (or what would you like to see) of the Orlando Centroplex area?

I was thinking, seeing as there already is the law school close to that area along with OCPS headquarters, why not build a high school? The land is there. Of course that is most definitely out of the question with OCPS's budget problems. But it would do a lot for Parramore if they would put in a school along with a downtown community center (or a new YMCA). It would add a lot to downtown seeing as we haven't had a high school in the downtown area for years (since 1952). Now we just have Boone and Edgewater, that are just on the outskirts of downtown.

What do you all think? Share your ideas or any knowledge on the Centroplex Area.

You forgot Jones.

[demon]

Giant art museum focusing on comics, manga, and animation. Then turn the rest into some really futuristic-looking buildings as a counterpoint to downtown, and to bring in the young media interested artists type students. And give Valencia enough money to pen up a decent applied arts/animation/graphics/industrial/architectural design program with ties to Full Sail and other art colleges.

I love the museum idea. We should add video games to that list as well. Maybe that will get Tiburon downtown.

I'd like to see affordable housing for civil servants in this neighborhood. Something that teachers, firefighters & law enforcement could afford. Low priced & high density of course.

[JRS1]

Giant art museum focusing on comics, manga, and animation. Then turn the rest into some really futuristic-looking buildings as a counterpoint to downtown, and to bring in the young media interested artists type students. And give Valencia enough money to pen up a decent applied arts/animation/graphics/industrial/architectural design program with ties to Full Sail and other art colleges.

how about a giant movies theatre with 4 big screens at the center, so that you could see them from all four sides? A unique theatre concept with many potential variations. Or, make it into another Cirque du Soleil--- but a big one.

to make it into a museum, you would have to demolish the grandstands-- or, keep them and offer exposition movies and or moving displays you could watch from the upper tier and convert the rest of the space. who the hec knows...

[bulldogger]

365 Day Rodeo. The locker rooms could be turned into slaughterhouses and fresh steaks served in restaurants on the main floor. You could have leather shops, gun shops, rope shops, cowboy hat and boot shops, cutlery shops, have a shop that adds bullhorns to the grill of your car or have leather car seats installed.

Even people from Houston and Dallas would leave their lone star to see a venue like that.

[spenser1058]

365 Day Rodeo. The locker rooms could be turned into slaughterhouses and fresh steaks served in restaurants on the main floor. You could have leather shops, gun shops, rope shops, cowboy hat and boot shops, cutlery shops, have a shop that adds bullhorns to the grill of your car or have leather car seats installed.

Even people from Houston and Dallas would leave their lone star to see a venue like that.

moo

(hmmm - maybe more apropos for Kissimmee)

[facilities man]

365 Day Rodeo. The locker rooms could be turned into slaughterhouses and fresh steaks served in restaurants on the main floor. You could have leather shops, gun shops, rope shops, cowboy hat and boot shops, cutlery shops, have a shop that adds bullhorns to the grill of your car or have leather car seats installed.

Even people from Houston and Dallas would leave their lone star to see a venue like that.

Did you take your medication today???

[smileguy]

365 Day Rodeo. The locker rooms could be turned into slaughterhouses and fresh steaks served in restaurants on the main floor. You could have leather shops, gun shops, rope shops, cowboy hat and boot shops, cutlery shops, have a shop that adds bullhorns to the grill of your car or have leather car seats installed.

Even people from Houston and Dallas would leave their lone star to see a venue like that.

Sounds fun-- Lets find some investors!

[tennis32801]

365 Day Rodeo. The locker rooms could be turned into slaughterhouses and fresh steaks served in restaurants on the main floor. You could have leather shops, gun shops, rope shops, cowboy hat and boot shops, cutlery shops, have a shop that adds bullhorns to the grill of your car or have leather car seats installed.

Even people from Houston and Dallas would leave their lone star to see a venue like that.

lol, sounds like you have this well thought out (to a degree scary).....however, being a huge country music fan, this has my vote!

[bulldogger]

Picture this... little redneck Johnny and his daddy are at the rodeo and little Johnny says to daddy, "Can we eat Thor, tonight, pleeeeaaase, Daddy?"

"Alright, son. We can eat Thor, but don't tell your momma."

Kissimmee matches the theme, but they don't have the money to pull something like this off.