Downtown Orlando Project Discussion

[bulldogger]

all of that

Edited August 18, 2017 by bulldogger
typo

[dcluley98]

Took this pic of OPD demo on my way to the OCSC game last night. A bit of historic destruction. Let's hope the MEC is soon to replace this section of our city! 

 

[RedStar25]

I'd hardly call it "historic". 

[spenser1058]

1 minute ago, RedStar25 said:

I'd hardly call it "historic". 

Well, maybe if Mel Gibson were there...

[RedStar25]

Just now, spenser1058 said:

Well, maybe if Mel Gibson were there...

Huh? 

[spenser1058]

Mel was there for the implosion of city hall in Lethal Weapon 3, which was pretty historic. We were of course big into our "Hollywood East" phase back then which of course went pffft.

[JFW657]

52 minutes ago, RedStar25 said:

I'd hardly call it "historic". 

It might not be any great loss architecturally, but it has been in that spot for several decades of Orlando's history, so technically, I guess that makes it historic.

 

[spenser1058]

The interesting parts about it include the fact that it was originally the Municipal Justice Building which housed the City Courts (Florida no longer has those- they were phased out, I think, when Askew was governor.

Also notable was it housed the City Jail (also phased out.) The fascinating part about that was that those floors were left without a/c, and like most buildings from the late 60's/early 70's, had horrendous ventilation which made it a bit of a living h*ll.

 

[orange87]

Personally, I liked the old OPD building more than the new one. Then again, I tend to like older architecture more than newer architecture.

Edited August 21, 2017 by orange87

[JFW657]

Yeah, the new OPD HQ is a nice looking building, but I just don't think looks like a metro police dept. 

It doesn't project power or authority or officiality. It looks more like any run of the mill corporate office building.

Plus, it's kinda small. Shoulda been at good 50% taller if not 2x.

[nite owℓ]

I liked the old OPD building too. Was the architecture considered modernist or brutalist? The entrance & grounds were stately yet peaceful, albeit the building itself seemed haunted... dark & brooding. Especially inside. Still better than the new building which looks like glass box transported from a Lake Mary office park.

[jrs2]

56 minutes ago, nite owℓ said:

I liked the old OPD building too. Was the architecture considered modernist or brutalist? The entrance & grounds were stately yet peaceful, albeit the building itself seemed haunted... dark & brooding. Especially inside. Still better than the new building which looks like glass box transported from a Lake Mary office park.

wow.  bravo. very well worded. 

While spenser1058 writes a history or Orlando, you should collaborate with him and write poetry or haiku or really insightful descriptions of stuff.  I mean that.

modernist?

personally, I liked the OPD building.  I just fear that it's parcel will sit undeveloped for a while.

[HankStrong]

13 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Also notable was it housed the City Jail (also phased out.) The fascinating part about that was that those floors were left without a/c, and like most buildings from the late 60's/early 70's, had horrendous ventilation which made it a bit of a living h*ll.

 

Add in all those desk jockey cops smoking 3 packs of cigs a day inside.

[alex]

15 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

The interesting parts about it include the fact that it was originally the Municipal Justice Building which housed the City Courts (Florida no longer has those- they were phased out, I think, when Askew was governor.

Also notable was it housed the City Jail (also phased out.) The fascinating part about that was that those floors were left without a/c, and like most buildings from the late 60's/early 70's, had horrendous ventilation which made it a bit of a living h*ll.

 

Wasn't mold (or some similar irreparable damage) one of the reasons they gave for not being able to save the existing building? 

[spenser1058]

50 minutes ago, alex said:

Wasn't mold (or some similar irreparable damage) one of the reasons they gave for not being able to save the existing building? 

It very well may have been but the building had long since outlived its useful life. It really wasn't designed to just be a police station and from what I understood they also had issues updating wiring and it was pre-ADA which is a bear for public buildings.

[JFW657]

If not for the MEC, it would've been kinda cool to have seen the place completely gutted and the old exterior removed down to the concrete skeleton, then have all new wiring, plumbing and accessibilty installed, and finally, re-skinned to create an entirely new building. Maybe even a few floors added to the tower section.

Of course, that almost certainly would've been more expensive than building an entirely new building from scratch.

[codypet]

^^^Which is why I'm all the more surprised Aloft did that to the OUC building.

[prahaboheme]

The "architecture" of the new OPD seems to reflect the increasing self awareness that police have regarding their public persona in 2017.  It seems to portray openness and transparency - it could easily be mistaken for a community center or public library building. 

[UngaBungalow]

That was definitely the idea. I stopped by to take photos before it opened and I caught a police officer just standing in the parking lot looking at the space and he looked at me and said, "it's just so open ... there's nothing here to stop a drive by" which kind of floored me. He was visibly shaken. 

[spenser1058]

39 minutes ago, UngaBungalow said:

That was definitely the idea. I stopped by to take photos before it opened and I caught a police officer just standing in the parking lot looking at the space and he looked at me and said, "it's just so open ... there's nothing here to stop a drive by" which kind of floored me. He was visibly shaken. 

I certainly understand his concerns and heaven knows our police officers have a thankless job going places I'd never want to go and seeing things I'd never want to see.

That's why it's definitely a calling. Just like the firefighters who ran back into the Twin Towera on 9/11, that's something very special and it's why I never begrudge whatever resources our public servants may need when it's budget time.

But, if our pluralistic democracy is to stand a chance to thrive, we all have to be open. The transparency of that building in that location speaks loudly to the values we've worked for here.

Just as the officers have to get out of the cruisers and get to know the citizens they work for, we all have to stop erecting gated neighborhoods like some banana republic and decimating the public schools we were once so proud of (talk about architecture speaking loudly: compare places like Howard and Lakeview and Princeton that spoke to a time when we were proud to send our kids to school as opposed to some of the "portable farms" we educated kids in for 30 years because Ax the Tax refused to support a small millage or half-cent sales tax increase.)

From public safety to education, it boils down to this: "What is it, Mr. Franklin?" "A republic, madam, if you can keep it."

[JFW657]

I think it's got some kind of special glass. Bulletproof or high impact or something.

I would hope they wouldn't be careless enough in this day and age to build a PD without that kind of protection.

[aent]

4 hours ago, UngaBungalow said:

That was definitely the idea. I stopped by to take photos before it opened and I caught a police officer just standing in the parking lot looking at the space and he looked at me and said, "it's just so open ... there's nothing here to stop a drive by" which kind of floored me. He was visibly shaken. 

Its the training that causes that, not any factual things. Police work remains a very safe job in the US...  driving taxis and other jobs that don't seem as dangerous consistently are actually much more dangerous, even on violence only... on top of construction jobs and other jobs we actually expect to be dangerous. I firmly believe that the attitude portrayed by that officer is exactly the problem... they believe everyone is out to get them, so they treat everyone so they are out to get them, so all the innocent people who experience being treated like they're out to get them hate them.

While I have never myself have been on the receiving end of it, I've been on a number of ridealongs where I got to see first hand, with the same information the officer has, where the officers treatment of the level of threat seemed entirely ridiculous. And thats with someone standing there watching and observing. I even had one officer talking to other officers, who seemingly forgot I was not an officer or working for the department, who was readily talking about how they could get away with lots of inappropriate stuff, and where they had to draw the line on what they could "get away" with. I've also had a number of friends, who I know don't do any real crimes, no stealing, no drugs, no violence, etc, who have been treated absolutely terribly, including violence by the police. They are generally let go without charges, and sometimes with the officer refusing to ID to avoid the inevitable complaint (which doesn't get a real investigation anyways). It destroys public trust of officers AND officer trust of  the citizens they're supposed to protect.

Maybe this is a step in the right direction, but they need to stop feeding the officers every single threat against any police officer. One of my good friends is a cop, and I've seen the emails they get... he literally gets emails every day about every threats against a police officer and many acts of violence against a cop in a huge radius, frequently nationwide... is it any surprise he's scared of everyone? I'm sure if we did the same for taxi drivers, they'd all have a gun in their right hand while driving with their left.

[codypet]

^^^This.  I've been on the receiving end on that situation a couple of times and when it happens you're really floored thinking "I wasn't doing anything wrong".  Each incident I was wondering why the officer is accusing me of this when there's no crime being committed.  I held a lot of resentment to the Orlando Police Dept because pretty much until Pulse happened.  I felt they handled that situation better than I had been giving them credit for because of my experiences.

[Jernigan]

Surveyor working in the parking lot on NE corner of Rosalind and Robinson yesterday and today.    I asked him if he knew what it was for and he just said that usually when he's there it's the start of something.   

This lot is owned by Highwoods.  You'll remember that they recently took the Eola Park building across the street off the market.

[codypet]

Do they own the garage for EPC?  I wouldn't mind seeing them redevelop the garage for EPC along with that lot with a new building with an integrated garage for both buildings.