SMARTER Project - Marie
S=Specific (Define Project)
The Specified Steps that take Place in Completing a Project
On July 26, 2007 the Orange County Commission approved a state of the art events center, performing arts center and renovation to the citrus bowl stadium. The ground breaking was held on July 29 2008. August 5 2009 the Amway Center was named and October 1, 2010 the Amway center opened. It is owned and operated by the City of Orlando. It will hold national events, concerts and shows.
The City of Orlando began a revitalizing program of the Parramore neighborhood, which is home to the arena. The city worked closely with local minority and women owned businesses to build this environmentally friendly building. It is designed to reflect the community. The new center has a blend of glass and metal with an ever changing graphic monumental wall. The Amway Center is 875,000 square feet. It is also constructed as an environmentally “green” building.
The Magic contributed $50 million toward the construction of the center that sites in 8.75 acres. The new Amway Center has 8 levels, holds 20,000 seats and has 11,000 parking spaces in the area. The new center also has retail stores, restaurants and bars. There is also an iconic 180 foot tall tower with sky bar and sky terrace at the top.
The City will also be conducting a community venue project. The city will help residents get jobs and clean up the Parramore neighborhood. The Parramore Heritage Park has space for outdoor activities. They built a kids monument and will construct a playground for the children later this year. They will also be repairing and adding new sidewalks with ramps for safety. The city also put up new street lights for safety and planted some trees. They also put up new decorative fencing on main roads that lead to the interstate.
The old arena will be demolished and the land turned into a Creative Village. It will house digital media companies. There will be office space, residential space and room for education, hotels, retail and entertainment. The goal is to turn the site into a place where people live work and play.