Camping World Stadium to get ‘smart’ look

Article posted by Coliseum, December 16^th, 2019

Image: Camping World Stadium

Barton Malow, a Michigan-headquartered construction firm specializing in building industrial, healthcare, educational and special-event facilities, has been picked up by Orlando City Commissioners to spruce up the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

Barton Malow has found a place in the Forbes list as one of America’s largest private companies. The builder completed ‘Daytona Rising’ in 2016, the $400 million refashioning of the Daytona International Speedway.

The redecoration work will cost $60 million and will lend lustrous touch to restrooms and concession areas in the upper level of Camping World Stadium, ameliorate club-level seating, and upgrade the parking spots.

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Mayor Buddy Dyer of Orlando, Florida, informed that the improvisations should have been done the last time the stadium was updated in 2014 at an expense of $200 million. The city decided not to go ahead with the upgrades to save money.

Dyer who initiated the previous redecoration work of the facility which included doing away with most of the lower bowl and modernizing almost the entire arena, said those upgrades paid off as it brought in high-profile events and returned hundreds of millions of dollars to the community.

“When we originally did the renovation to what’s now called Camping World Stadium, the original proposal was $230, $240 million and we ended up doing about $207 million so there were some things we weren’t able to accomplish,” Dyer explained.

“So, we’re coming back, the county has allocated $60 million additional through the Tourist Development Tax, so we’ll do some things like closing in the northern end zone where the party deck was which hasn’t worked out in a way that we thought it would. We’ll enhance the club space, there are always things with technology that you have to enhance just about every year, and then, of course, some of the parking areas we will improve them,” he added.

The stadium which was earlier known as the Citrus Bowl, has hosted NFL Pro Bowls, a Metallica concert, a Rolling Stones concert, Wrestlemania, the Electric Daisy Carnival, international soccer matches and is in the running for the 2026 World Cup.

“We have an NFL-quality stadium, and with this $60 million we’re going to have spent less than $300 million,” Dyer said.

“And if you look at the price tags on other NFL quality stadiums, they’re two, three, sometimes eight times as much as what we spent so I think we’ve been frugal with their dollars,” Dyer further stated.

Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan stated that Michigan will play Alabama at the stadium on New Year’s Day.

“I am extremely proud of our community and sports tourism in general,” Hogan said.

“Nothing worth doing is ever easy and we are all ecstatic with the impact the new venues [Camping World Stadium, Dr Phillips Center for Performing Arts, and Amway Center] have had on our community.”

Orlando Venues Chief Venues Officer Allen Johnson said revamping the stadium in 2014 has come as a boon for Central Florida and the upcoming renovations will also herald development.

“We’ve proven the investment made in reconstructing Camping World Stadium allowed us to modernize the facility while also attracting new, high-profile events that generate a sizeable economic impact for the City of Orlando,” Johnson remarked.

“Since reopening the stadium’s gates, we’ve welcomed everything from WrestleMania 33 to the Rolling Stones to the Monster Jam World Finals to our fourth annual NFL Pro Bowl next month. This additional $60 million investment will enable us to remain competitive and ensure we continue to draw more marquee events,” he further remarked.

Money from Orlando’s Tourist Development Tax (TDT) or “bed tax” would fund the renovation. The TDT collected almost $284 million from visitors last fiscal year.

Dyer says that the redecoration work will be over by the end of 2020 and the stadium will continue to run even while being built.

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