<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Everybody now has made his pitch. First, the advocates for a performing-arts center made their case to the Orange County Commission. Then, it was those who want to overhaul the Citrus Bowl. And, finally, the Orlando Magic batted cleanup Tuesday with an emotional, feel-good plea for a new arena that actually had one woman in the audience wiping tears from her eyes. Now it's time for Rich Crotty and Buddy Dyer and city leaders and county commissioners to do whatever it takes to build all three. Time for them to make history and do what their political predecessors never have done -- have the county and city unite to build some things for the people who actually reside here. Orlando is already a great destination city for the tourists who come and go here. Time to make it a great hometown for the people who live and die here. We only can hope Crotty and Dyer don't get caught up in the city-county partisan politics that seem to be creeping into the process. Originally, this was supposed to be about building facilities for the citizens of Orlando, but commissioners said Tuesday they want to study a plan that would put the arena on the International Drive corridor next to the convention center. Wait a minute, I thought we were trying to keep the Magic in Orlando? I-Drive may be in the same county, but it's another world to the people who actually live here. We're supposed to be revitalizing downtown Orlando here, not Downtown Disney. If you build an arena on I-Drive, you're really not building it for the people who live in Orlando; you're building it for the people who live in Omaha and Osaka. It was comical Tuesday listening to frustrated commissioners complain because Magic Chief Operating Officer Alex Martins was vague about how much private money the team would contribute to a new arena. Then, in the next breath, commissioners were even more vague about where the new arena should be built. It's no wonder the Magic won't say exactly how much their "significant" contribution will be. Would you put a down payment on a house if you didn't know on which side of town it was located? The Magic say they will put in their fair share. They say they will foot the bill if there are cost overruns. They got NBA Commissioner David Stern to promise (via videotape) that Orlando would be awarded a lucrative NBA All-Star Weekend if a new arena is built. Not only that, but Martins said the Magic also will make a "major financial contribution" to building the new performing-arts center, too. Say what you will about the Magic's bad draft picks, but you can't say they haven't done good things in the community. The lapel pins worn by many of those in the commission chamber Tuesday said it best: "Do Them All. Do Them Now. Do Them Right." There's no reason Orlando should not have all three of these facilities. We already have the best weather, the best airport, the best hotels and the best attractions. Why shouldn't we have the best buildings, too? Why shouldn't we attract the best concerts and ballets and bowl games and basketball tournaments?</div> Source
wow. what the heck is wrong with the executives? I think they just look like idiots now. They should have made sure that they had a clear cut proposition before they proposed crap. It seems to me that they aren't showing any sense of urgency and it looks like a new arena will take a while to get figured out.
I think they kept it open knowing that I-Drive folks would want it located on that side of town. They are smart, they are playing the city against the county and they know one way or another they are getting a new arena...
The title alone says how I feel about the arena deal. Either get build the damn thing or don't. Theres no in betweens or anything, and it's just an issue I'm quite frankly sick of hearing about.
Yea I know, i think its more and more likely it will get done but its just a matter of where now. Both sides have good reasons for where they want it, but they need to listen to the community and not what the hoteliers are saying.
