| www.orlando-arena.com takes on the Arena Issue Authored by Trey Flynn - April 28, 2005 - 2:16 am
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When you hear “new arena” in Orlando these days it is met with a level of scrutiny that has caused many of our biggest political leaders to tip toe the issue, as not to upset anyone. Sadly this has created the distorted view of “No New Arena for Billionaires” without people knowing all the facts. The funds we could use on a new arena cannot be spent on education, major roads, and hurricane relief by law, rather it has been spent largely on a venue that many of us in Orange County will never visit. In 1998 we didn’t hear “No Convention Center for Millionaires,” because it was an issue that many looked beyond. The goal of www.orlando-arena.com is to inform the residents of Orange County on what funds would be used to build a new arena and how it would not come out of their pocketbooks if correctly done.
A New Arena Could Easily Be Paid For Without Resident Funds
In 2003 the Orange County Convention Center was completed at a cost of $748 million. This was paid for through a tourist tax defined in Section 125.0104 of the Florida Statutes, which states that a tourist tax may be collected up to 6% and must be used in the acquisition and operation of convention centers, sports stadiums and arenas, auditoriums and museums, promotion and/or advertisement of tourism and funding of tourist and convention bureaus and tourist information centers. Currently in Orange County we are at 5%, if we were to increase the tourist tax to 6%, there would have been 22.2 Million dollars extra in funds in 2004. Most large counties in Florida have a 6% tourist tax and give 2% to sporting venues themselves. Orange County gave less than 1% to such venues last year. (See the 1% Sports Facility Tax at http://sun6.dms.state.fl.us/dor/taxes/add_pro_sports.html)
Orlando/Orange County does have the assets to build a new arena, yet we are letting the hotel owners control how the tourist tax is spent. The county has given them everything they have asked for, it is time that some of the tourist tax is spent on residents of Orange County.
The Arena Could Revitalize Downtown Orlando
People underestimate how much the Magic mean and could add to Downtown Orlando. The current arena is severely obsolete, concerts and sporting events have rejected it because of its high rent (due to lack of money making amenities). These include the NCAA Basketball Tournament, U2, and recently Kenny Chesney.
Downtown Orlando has been slowly dying the last few years. Church Street Station which once attracted a lot of tourists and locals has fallen to places closer to the resorts. The current arena is isolated from any restaurants, bars, and other social gathering places. If you look at what the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa has done for an area that used to be old shipyards with no vital businesses surrounding the area, you will see that a number of restaurants now occupy much of the areas around the arena.
Over the last few years Orlando has talked about revitalizing downtown but has not figured out a way to reach this goal. A new arena would be a good place to start. Orlando and Orange County, as a community, would only improve an area that lacks personality currently with the addition of a new arena.
The Arena Would Continue to Make Orlando More than a Tourist Town
Prior to 1992, when Shaquille O’Neal stepped foot into Orlando, no one knew of the city as anything but a tourist town. In 1995, during the NBA Finals run of the Magic, the city had never had a level of pride that the exhibited during those times. People were talking about Orlando for the first time as a community, not as a destination. Disney and Universal were saying they were part of the Orlando area, rather than Orlando saying they were part of the tourist area. Tourism has made us the town we are today, but the city and county have continuously strived to remove this image to bring in new businesses to the area. We are one of the fastest growing Metro areas in the country and the twentieth ranked TV market. Having the Magic and a nice arena to create a vibrant epicenter in town will only reinforce the image of a residential community.
A new arena is plausible and well within our grasp. If we do not speak up and tell they county/city what we as residents want, we will never get it. I only hope that in some way my website speaks at a level to inform the residents of Orlando/Orange County of what a new arena would do for the community and that it can be paid for without hurting their pocketbooks. Please visit www.orlando-arena.com for more information and tell your friends, family, coworkers, and most of all your elected representatives to let them know what you want.
I would like to thank Anthony Pisano (Orlando-arena.com webmaster) and Howard Mass for the support that they have given me. I can be reached at contract@orlando-arena.com
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