Nov-2017

116 117 to the north, a new per- forming arts center, and a complete renovation of the nearby Citrus Bowl, which ultimately was renamed Camping World Stadium in 2016. The 875,000-square-foot Amway Center was funded through a variety of sourc- es including loans, funds from the area’s tourist development taxes on hotel room nights, some $62 million from the Magic’s ownership, and another $100 million from the local CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) for land costs and a parking garage attached to the property. “It’s considered one of the premier ven- ues and, in fact, people come here when they’re talking about building a new venue, or renovating their venue; they take a tour of our facility,” John- son relates. “Even though there have been others that have opened since us, we still have a lot of people come to check out what we do and how we do it because it’s state-of- the-art, and we try to be cutting edge in providing customer service and fan experience for people who come to the shows and all kinds of other events.” On a daily basis, the Amway Center is home to the Orlando Magic and the Orlando Solar Bears, an ECHL (East Coast Hockey League) ORLANDO VENUES franchise. “We also have concerts, ice shows, spectacle shows such as motorcycle events, and we do some high school band competi- tions,” says Johnson. “We had 32 concerts, this year, which is our best year, ever. We’ve had numerous recognitions and awards, including LEED Gold status as well as a Sports Business Journal Facility of the Year award. Recently, the Amway Center was recognized by the Inter- national Association of Venue Managers with the 2017 Venue Excellence Award – we are the only arena recognized this year.” Camping World Stadium began life in 1936, as Orlando Stadium, and has also been known as the Tangerine Bowl and the Florida Citrus Bowl. It had been renovated several times over the years, but in 2014 about 90 percent of it was taken down and built anew. “The Stadium was funded by three sources,” Johnson says. “The tourist development tax was the largest of the funding sources; Florida Citrus Sports, PHOTOS BY LISA BOWER WHAT: Manager of the Amway Center and Camping World Stadium WHERE: Orlando, Florida WEBSITE: www.orlandovenues.net AT A GLANCE ORLANDO VENUES