Thirty years in the making, organizers for the upcoming Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center in downtown Orlando are making plans to build it in phases, and estimate a completion by the end of 2013. The first phase of construction includes both the largest and the smallest of three performance halls. Groundbreaking began in March, but construction has been delayed because of the current state of the economy.
The cost of this phase of development is around $300 million, and organizers believe by breaking ground and making a slow and steady start towards completion will build momentum in the community, where many people desire an active city life, which will help gain more support and perpetuate the development. When developers continue forward steadily with a project in the midst of a decline in financial stability, an urban community often embraces such an act and will often desire to become more involved and supportive of the project, whose survival depends upon perpetuation of support.
The Walt Disney Company gave $12.5 million toward the construction, and the performing arts center has so far received $86 million in private funding, and $160 million in city funding. Despite the amount of financial backing, when Orange County’s tourist development tax took a dive from the economy, it stalled the project for the downtown arts center.
Financial consultants estimated the final price tag for the whole arts center project to be around $383 million, about $40 million lower than the city’s estimation. The development included the land contributed by the city, and the moving of Fire Station 1 from the site of the center.
Depending on how quickly funds are raised, developers hope to include all of the exterior shell of the building as part of the first phase of the project. With plans to build the largest and smallest theatres first, symphony orchestras, dance companies, and operas may be booked, which will produce revenue at a higher rate than the other halls.
The Orlando Philharmonic, the Festival of Orchestras, and the Florida Theatrical Association all eagerly anticipate the completion of the project, as they will be calling the Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center their home. They are making the best of the situation, realizing Orlando has already waited thirty years for this to happen, and another five or six years will be worth the wait.
Tags: active city life, downtown Orlando, Orlando Performing Arts Center, urban community