Upcoming work on the Citrus Bowl is “technically a renovation, but when the dust settles in just less than two years, about 80 percent of the stadium will be brand new,” according to Mark Schlueb of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. The entire lower seating bowl “will be demolished, leaving only the newer upper bowl standing high above the field.” The work is "expected to cost" between $175-200M. Orlando city commissioners yesterday “picked Turner Construction as the project's general contractor.” Turner oversaw the construction of Amway Center “as the owner's representative.” The city expects to “start preliminary construction -- essentially ordering and prefabricating some materials -- in October.” Then, once the winter events “are over, demolition and reconstruction will start in February 2014 and be mostly finished in just nine months.” Some work -- including “upgrades to some suites and concession areas -- will be left unfinished until the bowl games and Monster Jam again wrap up in early 2015.” The renovation includes “replacement of the lower seating bowl and construction of new 25,000-square-foot club levels on each side, with 5,000 to 6,000 premium club seats.” The stadium will have “wider concourses; new concessions, restrooms, kitchens and locker rooms; a new video scoreboard; a new façade and technology upgrades.” Replacing the lower bowl with “more modern seating will reduce the stadium's capacity by about 10,000.” Temporary seats “could be added atop the terrace to bring that capacity back to about 65,000, a requirement for hosting bowl games” (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 5/7).
