The Florida Citrus Bowl is finally being rebuilt

[roadman65]

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2014-01-29/news/os-citrus-bowl-demolition-orlando-20140129_1_citrus-bowl-russell-athletic-bowl-demolition A stadium  that has needed replacement for a long time is finally getting it.  The Florida Citrus Bowl, a stadium that Orlando wants to be as prominent as the rest of the big city stadiums, maybe get that chance when this new rebuilt stadium is completed.
http://msn.foxsports.com/florida/story/it-s-really-happening-citrus-bowl-demotion-finally-begins-012914 Another article featuring a short video clip.

[brad2971]

Good Lord, what a waste of taxpayer dollars. Did it ever once occur to the stadium boosters that the purpose/need for a Citrus Bowl became obsolete the minute the Univ. of Central Florida completed BrightHouse Networks Stadium for its football team?

Frankly, the city of Orlando would've been better off tearing down the stadium and selling the property to office park developers. And it can get along just fine without (dwindling numbers of) tourists going to watch second-tier college bowl games.

[roadman65]

The City of Orlando lives in a dream world!  They think they are going to get class acts in that dump if they "modernize" it.  They even think the NFL will allow that stadium to host a future super bowl game there if they rebuild it!

What pisses me off is the fact a soccer stadium is being built nearby.  Homes are being evicted via eminent domain so that some large corporation can have a stadium for a soccer team.  So now we are going to have two stadiums built to the same standards, as soccer uses the same amount of area as football.  We do not have one stadium, but two stadiums. Both places will not be used simultaneously when are completed. What is even more interesting is that the soccer stadium is displacing Parramore, a high crime area in Orlando.  As we all know,  that is going to cause people to migrate to another area in the city and just make things better in one area to become bad again someplace else.

You are right the whole Citrus Bowl should just come down and something else should be made in its place.  Many game acts are at the new stadium, Bright House Network Stadium, and the Cap One and Champs (yes I know its now officially the Russel Athletic Bowl) Bowl could be played there as well.  Then that Florida Classic Game should not even be played at all because of its nature which I do not want to bring up, but if it needs to let it be played at Bright House as well.

Thank Buddy Dyer for this maneuver. 

[NE2]

Homes are being evicted via eminent domain so that some large corporation can have a stadium for a soccer team.

Actually it's a church and a warehouse, not homes: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2014-01-31/news/os-orlando-soccer-stadium-land-20140131_1_northbrook-properties-soccer-stadium-eminent-domain Still BS but less so.

PS: homes don't get evicted. People do.

[realjd]

Then that Florida Classic Game should not even be played at all because of its nature which I do not want to bring up...

Please do bring it up. Otherwise I'm going to assume that this "nature" you oppose is the fact that it's played between two historically black colleges.

The stadium renovation and soccer stadium are being paid for with tourist taxes. These taxes are legally required to be used for convention centers, sports arenas, etc.. It's not like they're redirecting local property taxes that would otherwise be used on roads, schools, or parks.

The Citrus Bowl renovation is long overdue and the soccer specific stadium is a requirement for Orlando City to be promoted to the MLS. The MLS team will be a boon to downtown businesses and is a good thing for the community as a whole.