SPOTLIGHT
For nearly a decade, Orlando has been planning to create a 10-acre park and urban gathering space beneath the bridges of Interstate 4 running through its downtown. Now the park has a design and a name: The Canopy. The name refers to the greenery and tree-like sculptures that will be installed beneath the highway.
The park will have open space for community festivals and vendors. It will also include about 500 parking spaces and a connection to a downtown urban trail. The large highway pillars will become a canvas for outdoor projection shows.
This four-block area used to be a parking lot. Plans for the park have changed and evolved over the years. Early ideas included soccer fields and basketball courts, which are no longer in the plan.
Orlando officials hope the $30-million project will create a stronger connection between the east and west sides of downtown, partly by including safer and more inviting pedestrian crossings. Construction is expected to begin in early 2025 and should take about two years. In the meantime, the city plans to install 150 new temporary parking spaces nearby this summer.
AEROSPACE
- SpaceX wants to launch and land its Starship and Super Heavy rockets from a site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, so the Department of Defense is studying the potential environmental impacts. The proposed site is Launch Complex 37 at the northern end of the military base. For now, SpaceX continues to test-launch its rockets from its base in Texas.
DEVELOPMENT
- One Daytona, the 300,000-sq.- ft. mixed-use complex across from Daytona International Speedway, has more apartments on the way. Hollywood-based Prime Group, developer of the 282-unit Icon One Daytona apartments there, has another 122 apartments under construction at a separate site in the complex. The six-story building is expected to be finished next year. Also, a Costco with a checkered-flag pattern on its storefront recently opened at One Daytona.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
- The Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast has launched its first-ever regional brand, “Florida’s Space Coast: Tomorrow Launches Here.” Crafted through a community-wide initiative led by the EDC, the brand marks a milestone in the area’s efforts to develop a unique identity to be recognized on a global scale. It aims to distinguish the Space Coast as a community of choice to attract and retain investment and top-tier talent to the region.
HEALTH CARE
- Orlando Health and Acadia Healthcare have begun construction on a 144-bed behavioral health hospital that will expand access to mental health services in the Orlando area. Slated to open in spring 2025, the Apopka hospital will offer inpatient and outpatient treatment for adults, seniors, children and adolescents. Once the new hospital is operational, Orlando Health will transfer all inpatient behavioral health services from its South Seminole Hospital campus.
- Orlando Health South Lake Hospital is expanding in the growing city of Clermont. The non-profit Orlando Health system opened a five-story, $140-million patient tower. The 212,000-sq.-ft. building includes 58 beds, adding to the hospital’s existing 147 beds, and is home to the hospital’s Center for Women and Babies.
HIGHER EDUCATION
- Eastern Florida State College, formerly Brevard Community College, extended the contract of College President Jim Richey to 2029, citing his exceptional performance and leadership. The Board of Trustees praised his ability to create new programs that benefit students and the local economy.
PHILANTHROPY
- The Florida Blue Foundation is giving more than $1 million to the University of Central Florida to support health care services and education. That includes $516,000 for UCF’s College of Medicine to expand opportunities for medical students at the Chapman Compassionate Care Clinic in east Orlando, which provides health care to homeless people. Another $500,000 will go to an endowed professorship for healthy communities at UCF’s College of Nursing.
NON-PROFITS
- Orlando Fringe, the non-profit that stages the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival each May, has a new director: Scott Galbraith, a former vice president at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. He will also oversee the year-round Fringe ArtSpace in downtown Orlando.
TOURISM
- Disney’s replacement for its Splash Mountain ride at the Magic Kingdom theme park is slated to open this summer. Called Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, it’s inspired by the animated film The Princess and the Frog. The renovated ride’s well-known splashy drop at the end will be retained.