MLS Soccer Stadium

[klstorey]

I'm fine with the new location but I'm not fine with the surface parking and low rise building that the stadium now has awkwardly sticking out of its western edge.  

 

This area could be better preserved as part of the open space they are taking out or could be used for mid to high-rise mixed use building.  If this renaissance is true then the area around the new stadium will be very valuable sooner than later, designing that pad for future urban use would be a smart move.  It should at least have that Black Box theatre that was originally proposed for the site.  

 

Either that or a fancy restaurant with live lions, that would be a nice touch too... 

[metal93]

Closet_Urbanite and Boomer136: this is also my first post.

In regards to the Terry Ave. extension, I hope what they do is to extend it north and align it in a way to connect to Lake Dot Cir. (western portion) then align the northern terminus of Lake Dot Cir to connect directly to Edgewater. That'll give a direct (but not exactly straight) route to Andersdon St. from College Park and totally doable with the only major casualty being the buidling on the corner of Colonial and Lake Dot Cir.

 

It would have been nice if Division Ave. had been planned as a direct North-South route from Colonial to Michigan St. as a the west-of-I4 counterpart of Orange Ave. (Terry Ave. could be the counterpart for Rosalind/Magnolia, Parramore for Summerlin, and Westmoreland for Mills) Problem is now there's too much in the way to make it possible.

 

It would also be nice to see the church have a change of heart and accept the offer, I for one think it's a bad idea if the stadium is going to split Parramore Ave in half. Anyways, there's a lot of suggestions I have for 'fixing' the street system of Parramore, as parts of it are too disconnected and unrelated to the downtown grid. Recreating these connections don't have to result in full-on streets, they can be pedestrian-only portions if the ROW is too narrow to allow a street segment. This is true for a lot of roads around here, the road system is a mess - they are disconnected and there are few direct routes anywhere (hence our traffic problem).

[Closet_Urbanite]

Closet_Urbanite and Boomer136: this is also my first post.

In regards to the Terry Ave. extension, I hope what they do is to extend it north and align it in a way to connect to Lake Dot Cir. (western portion) then align the northern terminus of Lake Dot Cir to connect directly to Edgewater. That'll give a direct (but not exactly straight) route to Andersdon St. from College Park and totally doable with the only major casualty being the buidling on the corner of Colonial and Lake Dot Cir.

 

It would have been nice if Division Ave. had been planned as a direct North-South route from Colonial to Michigan St. as a the west-of-I4 counterpart of Orange Ave. (Terry Ave. could be the counterpart for Rosalind/Magnolia, Parramore for Summerlin, and Westmoreland for Mills) Problem is now there's too much in the way to make it possible.

 

It would also be nice to see the church have a change of heart and accept the offer, I for one think it's a bad idea if the stadium is going to split Parramore Ave in half. Anyways, there's a lot of suggestions I have for 'fixing' the street system of Parramore, as parts of it are too disconnected and unrelated to the downtown grid. Recreating these connections don't have to result in full-on streets, they can be pedestrian-only portions if the ROW is too narrow to allow a street segment. This is true for a lot of roads around here, the road system is a mess - they are disconnected and there are few direct routes anywhere (hence our traffic problem).

I agree with what you are proposing, but sometimes City government does not do what is best for the citizens. What is good about the Terry Ave extension is that it will have 15 feet wide sidewalks on either side of the street...if that doesn't creat foot traffic, not sure what will. It will be much wider than Park Ave in Winter Park, so I imagine the restaurants will have plenty of space for tables outside and trees to provide shading. Lucky are those who own along Terry Ave...oh wait, the City already owns all of it!

Edited August 6, 2014 by Closet_Urbanite

[jack]

The street grid in parramore does not make sense for a very specific reason. 

[HankStrong]

The street grid in parramore does not make sense for a very specific reason. 

 

Is this something interesting and factual, humorous and funny, or just some backhanded racism?

 

If it's one of the first 2... DO TELL

[jack]

Nothing interesting, obviously the city has not always been so open minded. The interstate and street grid essentially boxed in the residents as a subtle reminder where the could and couldn't go. 

 

Don't get me started on naming one of the streets division. 

[jgardnerucf]

Nothing interesting, obviously the city has not always been so open minded. The interstate and street grid essentially boxed in the residents as a subtle reminder where the could and couldn't go. 

 

Don't get me started on naming one of the streets division. 

 

The renaming of Division should be considered to remove that racial connotation. Wasn't there a mention of doing that a while back?

[spenser1058]

Yes, but it foundered on a couple of dilemmas: they had decided to name it after the founders of Hughes Supply (now H-D Supply), but that sounded a lot like Hughey, which is just a couple of blocks over. To make matters worse, Hughes Supply's competitor, Graybar Electric, is located a couple of miles down Division (at Michigan) and, understandably, didn't want to be on a street named after the competition. Just to make things interesting, there were those in the African-American community who thought it should be named after another African-American, and then there were those who didn't want to go through the hassle of a name change. With no clear consensus, the whole thing got dropped. 

 

At some point, the city really does need to figure out a way to get the name changed, but I'm not sure it's high on anyone's bucket list. As for me, my priority is that whomever they name it for, it should be for someone with ties to the area. I really dislike naming things after grandees and presidents who have absolutely no ties to the community.

[truebluecfl]

If the closing of Parramore Ave was going to be a big issue, couldn't they always put a tunnel under the stadium? They said the water table is particularly low in this area of downtown so they can lower the field into the ground. Would a road tunnel be to deep?

 

Plus when the roads closed before the game we could all gather under the stadium and chant like Ajax fans do under the bridge!

 

Edited August 7, 2014 by truebluecfl

[Closet_Urbanite]

The renaming of Division should be considered to remove that racial connotation. Wasn't there a mention of doing that a while back?

 

No doubt should be. Wasn't that whole block bounded by Division (E), Church (N), Terry (W), and Jackson (S) supposed to be razed to create a Town Square...named Dyer Square? If that is the case, I think Division should be renamed to Dyer Ave to go with Dyer Square...the man deserves it just for "effort'.

 

If you don't like that, then Reunion Square and Reunion Ave will work as well.

 

What ever the name, I can just picture that square with a grand fountain in the middle and lots of foot traffic, with mixed use skyscrapers surrounding the square 360 degrees and creating cool shady place to relax on a bench and huge LCD monitors showing re-runs of Magic and City Lion games ....(ok, the HD Supply building in not exactly a skyscraper but the rest could be)...and then, my alarm goes off and I realize I am late for work again!

 

Keep dreaming Orlando...one day you'll get to play with the "big boys"...not sure the redneck, bible-thumping, blue-hair, suburban sprawl mentality will ever join the 21st century or allow themselves to embrace urban, progressive, creative, and  growth-oriented ideas!

 

Parramore is your blank canvas...start dreaming...for you, your children...your grandchildren!

 

Sorry guys/gals, now I know why I never participate in these type of forums...I get carried away sometimes!

Edited August 7, 2014 by Closet_Urbanite

[jgardnerucf]

Perfect name change with the respective building contractors on this strip... "Electric Ave". hahaha. Eddy Grant can perform at the ribbon cutting. I crack myself up. But, think about it for a second. It's actually awesome.

 

So, yeah. How about changing it to "Envision Ave". That seems like an easy change.

[Boomer136]

I have seen a plan that includes the wishes of metaI93 perfectly. From the connection of Edgewater all the way through to Gore with an at grade crossing of the railroad tracks. It's undated but also includes the Lymmo expansion. So with everything else I've seen being consistant like the Trans4mation stuff, I'd put money on it.

Division renaming: forget about the contention about naming it after someone, call it Inclusion and be done with it.

I am happy to see others not "in the biz" or with controversal thoughts (as long as non-troll like) on these boards. I lurked when I moved onto Lake Eola just to understand what was happening around me, then joined and posted when I felt I could make cogent contributions on the arts (and being a designer in a dicipline) of arts facilities. (Don't get me started on the future of the Carr unless in a properly designated thread.) Yet now I feel free to comment and ask questions about things I have no training in. But I am a good researcher. If not the best speller. And I find that jargon is readily explained to those of us with only the meanest understanding. In otherwords, I enjoy not being the only target of disdain of the professionals here. Love!

[jack]

The opposition to division came from businesses that had to change their marketing material, mailers, etc. It was a cost that they did not want to bear. 

[jgardnerucf]

That cost is pretty minimal nowadays.

[Boomer136]

Groundbreaking ceremony October 16th starting with a "march to the match" from Church Street at 5:30pm.

[Jernigan]

Im signed up - I wonder what the souvenir is going to be

[jgardnerucf]

Im signed up - I wonder what the souvenir is going to be

 

Little container of purple sand.

[jrs2]

exciting.  The Brownstones at Thornton park are the latest project to break ground downtown.  This should be next, with The Sevens to follow suit by the end of this month.  CityView Apts needs another residential neighbor to add density over there.

[klstorey]

Will the new stadium attract more buildings on the west side of I-4? Who will they target with the condos there? Brazilians? First time buyers? What and when do you see happening around the stadium? 

[cwetteland]

Will the new stadium attract more buildings on the west side of I-4? Who will they target with the condos there? Brazilians? First time buyers? What and when do you see happening around the stadium? 

The city of Orlando owns the original site (except the church) where the stadium was going before it was shifted west. They can leverage a land deal to get the kind of development they want on those parcels.  I would think the city can lure additional projects to compliment the stadium.  That may create the critical mass to start more growth west of i-4.  But I think that will be slow as long as there so many parcels remaining in the east.

[Xander]

It's amazing to me that there's not one pic of site work going on right now. I guess I have to do everything myself

[OrlandoMagicLions]

thats bc there is no work going on lmao.

Edited October 28, 2014 by OrlandoMagicTigers

[Xander]

There's sitework going on.

[OrlandoMagicLions]

There's sitework going on.

they are just filling the pond right now. also they put up posts for a fence on the site around the church where the initial stadium plans was for. i wish at the last minute they somehow ended up buying the church because that site looks much nicer for the area to build a stadium than the new one. now there is going to be less density next to city view if they end up putting a open surface parking lot for staffers etc. there

Edited October 30, 2014 by OrlandoMagicTigers

[jrs2]

^^

the filling of the pond:  it may not have any effect on construction; all they have to do is pile drive regardless I think, so the pilings hit bedrock (not the town) anyway.