Downtown Orlando Project Discussion

[gibby]

A good amount of that barrier will be gone once that trumpet is out of the way.  This is one of the few areas where the new I4 will be an east-west improvement in IMO.  College Park and between Gore and Kaley were huge missed opportunities, but that's a different discussion.

[dcluley98]

Building underground freeways in Florida is not really all that feasible given the water table we have. It is already very costly to build underground. Add to that the need for  waterproofing and maintenance of waterproofing and it only increases the cost further. 

As many have pointed out, this is NOT how that interchange will look at all when completed. The plan is for Terry Avenue to become the Main N/S through street for Parramore, Callahan, and Creative Village, eventually connecting all the way from Colonial Drive to the I-4 Westbound ramp.  This portion of the job is a vast improvement of what was there before for Griffin Park and Callahan and it will be much better overall for the connectivity of Parramore to both Downtown via the under-eye and Creative Village. 

[spenser1058]

I don’t think many folks, and certainly not me, would imagine going underground as feasible.

What we should have thought about instead (and it’s far late to do it now) was restoring I-4 to its original proposed route along the John Young Parkway corridor.

We would have had an opportunity to restore the integrity of the community. Maybe we’ll get it right next time when Buddy retires in about 50 years and our flying taxis no longer require a roadway...

[AmIReal]

51 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

I don’t think many folks, and certainly not me, would imagine going underground as feasible.

What we should have thought about instead (and it’s far late to do it now) was restoring I-4 to its original proposed route along the John Young Parkway corridor.

We would have had an opportunity to restore the integrity of the community. Maybe we’ll get it right next time when Buddy retires in about 50 years and our flying taxis no longer require a roadway...

and what other neighborhoods would that have split and would the end result be better? Also, since given the current administration is having to work beyond the short sided/ bad decisions of past administrations, do you think the added financial burden to follow your path/ idea would have been worth it? Did you take into account this was not a project funded by the City or under the direction of the Mayor?  Was this just another pathetic and absurdly shallow attempt to somehow lay blame on Mayor Dyer? 

[ucfpatriot18]

19’story apartment building on the land in front of The Grande condos.  

[elefants]

19 minutes ago, ucfpatriot18 said:

19’story apartment building on the land in front of The Grande condos.  

Not even trying to blend into the immediate area.  It's impressive how it's both ugly and boring.

[JFW657]

Doesn't look that bad.

Not for the area around South St and Rosalind anyway. 

Once it gets Orlando'd and all the trim is removed and it gets shortened to six stories, then it will both ugly and boring.

[dcluley98]

I mean, that's pretty bad. 

Especially for that area. 

I would hope they make them do something that is very visably nice on the vistas coming into the city center along I-4 and the 408. 

[JFW657]

11 minutes ago, dcluley98 said:

I mean, that's pretty bad. 

Especially for that area. 

I would hope they make them do something that is very visably nice on the vistas coming into the city center along I-4 and the 408. 

I dunno.

I don't think it looks awesome or amazing, but I don't think it's hideous either.

I've seen worse designs.

[spenser1058]

22 hours ago, AmIReal said:

and what other neighborhoods would that have split and would the end result be better? Also, since given the current administration is having to work beyond the short sided/ bad decisions of past administrations, do you think the added financial burden to follow your path/ idea would have been worth it? Did you take into account this was not a project funded by the City or under the direction of the Mayor?  Was this just another pathetic and absurdly shallow attempt to somehow lay blame on Mayor Dyer? 

It’s amazing how you assume I was blaming Buddy on this one. My comment was simply his mayor-for-life status and the fact he ran on being judged on fixing Parramore and , after 18 years, it still ain’t fixed. He also ran on building a performing arts center. He never mentioned that after 18 years in office it’s still not complete (and only because he bumped his billionaire buddies ahead in line on a process they were never supposed to be a part of ( and gave them a sweetheart deal with no competition on an entertainment they have completely dropped the ball on). But as we always say with St. Buddy, he’ll fix it in the second 18 years, right?

Interesting that you assumed. I was blaming him - perhaps there’s some truth in my complaint, right? It’s also interesting you think after EIGHTEEN YEARS it’s appropriate to blame previous administrations for things Buddy doesn’t get right. 

Nevertheless, you’re also wrong that the city had no input on I-4 Ultimate. They absolutely did. Mayor Glenda got input on that one and didn’t think outside the box as I suggested. As I also said, it’s too late now. She didn’t push back on FDOT at the time because her primary concern then was they were talking about double-decking the highway. Thank goodness we derailed that.

Bottom line: Parramore ain’t fixed, Church St and downtown is a retail desert and we’re still waiting after EIGHTEEN years for the performing arts center to be completed. But hey, Buddy made sure we had a lousy basketball team owned by a family whose values don’t represent the citizens at all. Do you suppose after 25, 30, 40 years it will be appropriate to say the man in charge didn’t take care of business? Meanwhile, other cities in Florida that were way behind us have jumped ahead. It’s OK, though, because Buddy is Practically Perfect In Every Way!

 

 

 

[codypet]

It doesn't seem like its appropriately sized for the lot.

Like its base seems huge in the rendering, and that lot isn't all that big.

Edited November 12, 2020 by codypet

[AmIReal]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

It’s amazing how you assume I was blaming Buddy on this one. My comment was simply his mayor-for-life status and the fact he ran on being judged on fixing Parramore and , after 18 years, it still ain’t fixed. He also ran on building a performing arts center. He never mentioned that after 18 years in office it’s still not complete (and only because he bumped his billionaire buddies ahead in line on a process they were never supposed to be a part of ( and gave them a sweetheart deal with no competition on an entertainment they have completely dropped the ball on). But as we always say with St. Buddy, he’ll fix it in the second 18 years, right?

Interesting that you assumed. I was blaming him - perhaps there’s some truth in my complaint, right? It’s also interesting you think after EIGHTEEN YEARS it’s appropriate to blame previous administrations for things Buddy doesn’t get right. 

Nevertheless, you’re also wrong that the city had no input on I-4 Ultimate. They absolutely did. Mayor Glenda got input on that one and didn’t think outside the box as I suggested. As I also said, it’s too late now. She didn’t push back on FDOT at the time because her primary concern then was they were talking about double-decking the highway. Thank goodness we derailed that.

Bottom line: Parramore ain’t fixed, Church St and downtown is a retail desert and we’re still waiting after EIGHTEEN years for the performing arts center to be completed. But hey, Buddy made sure we had a lousy basketball team owned by a family whose values don’t represent the citizens at all. Do you suppose after 25, 30, 40 years it will be appropriate to say the man in charge didn’t take care of business? Meanwhile, other cities in Florida that were way behind us have jumped ahead. It’s OK, though, because Buddy is Practically Perfect In Every Way!

 

 

 

Of course you are correct. I somehow misunderstood your constant and consistent use of mis-information in all matters related to the Mayor to infer that you were laying blame on the Mayor in this instance also. However, your answer made it very clear that was not your intention. You are clearly a person who sticks to the facts and honestly presents things in truthful context, so I retract my previous statement.

Re: the I4 project, yes, Mayor Hood dropped the ball. Fortunately, the current administration has included the under I4 project to make it more palatable.

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

because Buddy is Practically Perfect In Every Way!

Well, you said it. I'm not sure I agree, but since you said it, it must be so.

[elefants]

3 hours ago, JFW657 said:

Doesn't look that bad.

Not for the area around South St and Rosalind anyway. 

Once it gets Orlando'd and all the trim is removed and it gets shortened to six stories, then it will both ugly and boring.

I'm usually not one to call for the shortening of buildings, but I think 6 stories would be far more appropriate there.  I'd be fine with the trim removed since it looks like an afterthought.  A brick facade would work very well there.

Edited November 12, 2020 by elefants

[JFW657]

1 hour ago, elefants said:

I'm usually not one to call for the shortening of buildings, but I think 6 stories would be far more appropriate there.  I'd be fine with the trim removed since it looks like an afterthought.  A brick facade would work very well there.

Brick is always preferable to just about anything else, but I don't hate this design.

I think that without the trim it becomes just another drab, featureless box.

[dcluley98]

I am really not a fan of the "hey look, we put beige rectangles on it" design aesthetic that seems to be de rigueur these days. 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2020 by dcluley98

[AndyPok1]

On 11/11/2020 at 7:29 PM, ucfpatriot18 said:

19’story apartment building on the land in front of The Grande condos.  

Were these rendered on a potato?  It takes talent to pixelate that badly.

[AmIReal]

The sign at the Parliament sign will be saved. “The City of Orlando is working on saving the sign,” city spokeswoman Samantha Holstein wrote in an email. “Staff has been in conversations with the property owner and working on coordinating the removal and storage for the safe keeping of the sign at this time.” "The Orange County Regional History Center will be involved in planning the future of the sign, said chief curator Pamela Schwartz."

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/arts-and-theater/os-et-parliament-house-demolished-sign-saved-20201115-huw7ztvr2zcejpfhj2wbztuqey-story.html

[spenser1058]

4 minutes ago, AmIReal said:

The sign at the Parliament sign will be saved. “The City of Orlando is working on saving the sign,” city spokeswoman Samantha Holstein wrote in an email. “Staff has been in conversations with the property owner and working on coordinating the removal and storage for the safe keeping of the sign at this time.” "The Orange County Regional History Center will be involved in planning the future of the sign, said chief curator Pamela Schwartz."

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/arts-and-theater/os-et-parliament-house-demolished-sign-saved-20201115-huw7ztvr2zcejpfhj2wbztuqey-story.html

I’m glad they’re giving first dibs to the History Center on this. Hopefully, they’ll figure out a way to get these signs actually displayed before the public instead of just warehousing them as the Morse has been doing *crosses fingers*

[codypet]

On the shortlist of places to store it is by the airport where the round building façade is.

[spenser1058]

14 minutes ago, codypet said:

On the shortlist of places to store it is by the airport where the round building façade is.

Yet another bit of the city’s history never to be seen by humans again...

It’s rather like Bill McCollum’s TV ads for re-election where he crowed about “saving our Navy base”. Whether the efforts of Orlando politicians these days are actually effective seems to matter little. Instead, make a big announcement, check it off your to-do list and repeat.

Edited November 16, 2020 by spenser1058

[codypet]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

Yet another bit of the city’s history never to be seen by humans again...

Not with this monument.   Now we'll never forget about it.

[spenser1058]

The Regional History Center sign on Washington St. with the multicolor blocks from the Courthouse Annex beats that thing...

We’ll probably get one of the vertical rectangle lights on the PH sign and they’ll proclaim it saved!

Do you ever wonder if the suits under the dome have heard of context?

Edited November 16, 2020 by spenser1058

[Jerry95]

4 hours ago, codypet said:

On the shortlist of places to store it is by the airport where the round building façade is.

Where exactly is this?

[AndyPok1]

4 hours ago, codypet said:

Not with this monument.   Now we'll never forget about it.

I actually love this installation.

[spenser1058]

Thomas Chatmon has declared Orange and Colonial at the Sentinel site to be “Main and Main”. If that’s true, Bulldozer Buddy’s excuse to demolish our history was just a bunch of hyperbole to placate a billionaire developer. Thanks for clarifying, Thomas!

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2020/11/17/downtown-orlando-sentinel-site-redevelopment-2021.html

From OBJ