{"id":363746,"date":"2026-08-05T21:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T21:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/363746\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T21:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T21:28:14","slug":"dr-phillips-center-orlando-dreamers-ucf-make-tdt-pitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/363746\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Phillips Center, Orlando Dreamers, UCF make TDT pitch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of the largest proposals seeking chunks of Orange County\u2019s lucrative bed tax<\/a> got the final crack Wednesday at convincing\u00a0a task force to advance their ideas, which combined would cost billions of dollars.<\/p>\n

The pitches included nearly $1 billion toward a professional baseball stadium \u2014 a proposal coupled with a reveal of new renderings of a stadium in the tourism corridor \u2014 a $750 million expansion of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and substantial enhancements to the University of Central Florida\u2019s athletics facilities.<\/p>\n

Also pitched was a children\u2019s museum in Winter Garden, an African American history museum in Eatonville, a proposal by the Town of Eatonville to create a \u201cheritage tourism district,\u201d\u00a0a hospitality building and plaza at a golf course in Ocoee and theater technology and infrastructure attached to a proposed arts and technology public school.<\/p>\n

But questions remain on how many of the projects will proceed and even how much money is on the table. The county so far hasn\u2019t provided task force members with a figure, as they weigh projects with pricetags ranging from $20 million to nearly $1 billion.<\/p>\n

Now the task force will score the nearly 20 proposals they\u2019ve been presented during three meetings over the past two weeks. At a meeting Tuesday, the task force will rank the ideas and make recommendations on what should be considered for funding.<\/p>\n

The Board of County Commissioners has final say on which, if any, projects are funded. Here are details on the three biggest pitches from Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Dr Phillips Center<\/p>\n

President Kathy Ramsberger said a $750 million infusion of TDT would jumpstart the performing arts center\u2019s $1.4 billion expansion master plan, which brings 1,000 free events to its front yard, grows the campus from nine to 20 venues, and adds a parking garage to the east of its existing building.<\/p>\n

Also, north of the theater, it wants to build a seven-floor building with a 750-seat theater, a 200-seat theater, an 180-seat theater and a banquet hall, which Ramsberger said would meet the demand for\u00a0more theater space, as well as venues for small-and medium-sized organizations.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Dr. Phillips Center\u202ffor\u202fthe Performing Arts shared its master plan vision with the Orange County TDT Citizen Advisory Task Force on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. The rendering shows the North Block expanding the arts center\u2019s performance and event capacity with a new 750-seat theater, 200-seat black box theater, 180-seat stage theater and an approximately 800-seat banquet and event venue, along with meeting rooms, food and beverage amenities, retail space and donor facilities. The East Block has operational infrastructure, including a new scenic shop, additional creative and education studios, a Global Arts & Wellness Institute, flexible performance space, administrative offices and additional parking. The master plan modernizes existing facilities through technology and production infrastructure upgrades, enhancements to Walt Disney Theater, expanded lobby and circulation areas, donor spaces, and food and beverage amenities. The Frontyard and Seneff Arts Plaza features a 4,000-capacity outdoor amphitheater, lush green spaces and water features, and supporting amenities designed to host approximately 1,000 free community events each year. (Dr. Phillips Center\u202ffor\u202fthe Performing Arts)<\/p>\n

The total project would be a signature attraction in downtown Orlando \u2014 which already has drawn visitors from 50 states and 80 countries, center officials say.<\/p>\n

Dr. Phillips Center is ready to move forward on construction, and the few facilities\u00a0could roughly double its activities. The center expects to have more than 1,200 performances this year, according to its presentation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more we can start now, the more results we\u2019ll have sooner,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Orlando Dreamers<\/p>\n

The Orlando Dreamers don\u2019t have stadium land, nor a team on the way, but they hope the county will play ball anyway.<\/p>\n

Specifically, they asked the county to \u201cquarantine\u201d until 2029 a 35-acre site along Internatioanl Drive for use as a potential baseball stadium, if they can deliver a franchise to the county. The county owns the mostly undeveloped plot of land next to Aquatica.<\/p>\n

And they also detailed how they envision a community benefits package taking shape, an effort to\u00a0send hundreds of millions of dollars of their revenue to the county to be spent on workforce housing and transportation.<\/p>\n

The investor group has been in pursuit of a Major League Baseball franchise, whether that be the Tampa Bay Rays, another franchise that could relocate, or an expansion team in the coming years.<\/p>\n

They plan to sink more than a billion dollars of private funds into a county-owned stadium, but want the help of $976 million in TDT funding bonded by the county.<\/p>\n

They plan to build a 45,000-seat domed stadium, essentially in a tear-drop shape east of International Drive and south of State Road 528. Renderings released by the group show a rail station on the proposed Sunshine Corridor, with a bridge over the highway connecting the station with the stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re confident we\u2019re going to see more than a million rides annually to that local rail station,\u201d co-founder Jim Schnorf said.<\/p>\n

UCF<\/p>\n

UCF President Alexander Cartwright asked the panel for $119 million to build three new sporting venues on its east Orange campus, along with more than $50 million to substantially improve the broadcast capabilities of its football stadium, the Acrisure Bounce House.<\/p>\n

Specifically, the university wants to build standalone facilities for its track and soccer programs \u2014\u00a0 which currently share a venue \u2014 and a new softball stadium.<\/p>\n

Athletic Director Terry Mohajir said the track & field complex would be constructed\u00a0where its softball stadium currently is, the softball stadium would move just east of the baseball stadium and a soccer stadium would be built on the existing track and soccer complex.<\/p>\n

\"ConstructionConstruction continues at Acrisure Bounce House stadium at the University of Central Florida, Wednesday, August 5, 2026. The $88 million expansion includes the Roth Tower Project, a 58,000-square-foot addition on the west side of that stadium that adds premium seating, suites and year-round hospitality space. (Joe Burbank\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

The largest line item is $51.1 million toward infrastructure improvement at the stadium, which officials argue will help the university bring more events with out-of-town fans to the campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019re asking to attract events \u2026 broadcast capabilities is paramount when they\u2019re looking to host events,\u201d he said. \u201cWe broadcast over 150 [games] \u2014 we\u2019d probably double that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Its presentation projects it would cost $43.6 million to build standalone soccer and track facilities, creating opportunities to host championship events and year-round competitions.<\/p>\n

A new softball stadium with a $24.3 million investment would allow the school to host tournaments, youth sports, professional competitions and larger crowds for home games.<\/p>\n

Cartwright contended UCF was a viable contender for TDT money because when the county funded a project at the football stadium in 2023 \u2014 an expansion to the Roth Tower at the football stadium \u2014 the school delivered a project on time and on budget. It\u2019s slated to be ready when its season starts next month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just asking for you to create a destination,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re asking for you to help us expand one that is already delivering measurable value for Orange County.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some of the largest proposals seeking chunks of Orange County\u2019s lucrative bed tax got the final crack Wednesday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[28,114,266,115,1335,139,141,140,109],"class_list":["post-363746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-florida","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}