Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

Coordinates: 28°32′17″N 81°22′41″W / 28.538032°N 81.378192°W

Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

Address	445 S. Magnolia Ave. Orlando, FL 32801
Location	Downtown Orlando
Owner	City of Orlando
Type	Performing arts center
Capacity	2,731 (Walt Disney Theater) 400 (DeVos Family Room) 294 (Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater)
Construction
Broke ground	23 June 2011
Opened	6 November 2014
Construction cost	Phase 1: $383 million Phase 2: $185 million
Architect	Barton Myers Associates, Inc., Baker Barrios Architects, Inc., HKS Architects, Inc.
Project manager	AMS Planning & Research Corp
Structural engineer	Harmon, Inc., Uni-Systems Engineering
Services engineer	Randall Mechanical, Inc.
General contractor	Balfour Beatty Construction
Main contractors	Forte Young, Inc., R.L. Burns, Inc., Rey Group, Inc.
Tenants
Orlando Ballet
Website
Venue Website

Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center in Downtown Orlando, Florida, United States. It replaced the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre, now renamed the Bob Carr Theater, originally built in 1926. The new performing arts center had its grand opening on November 6, 2014.^[1] Barton Myers Associates of Los Angeles is the design architect, with acoustics by Artec Consultants and Theatre Project Consultants designing the theaters.

About

Venue during construction, c. March 2014

The venue was approved along with a new Amway Center (which replaced the Amway Arena) and improvements to the Citrus Bowl after a series of hearings and votes, culminating in final votes in the Orange County Board of County Commissioners on July 26, 2007, and the Orlando City Council on August 6, 2007.

The design for the new venue was revealed on August 21, 2008. The venue features a 2,700-seat amplified hall (the Walt Disney Theater) for Broadway theater-class play events and a 300-seat venue (the Alexis & Jim Pugh Theater) for smaller shows and events.^[2] A third theater, a 1,700-seat acoustic hall for ballet, operas and orchestral performances, will begin construction in 2016, with a completion date sometime in late 2018.

The venue will cost US$514 million, with the completion of the third stage, the Acoustical Theater. Two-thirds of the funding comes from public funds, largely from the Orange County, Florida, tourist development tax. The other one-third comes from private donations, including a large grant from the Dr. P. Phillips Foundation, the philanthropic organization funded through the estate of Dr. Philip Phillips.

A slow-down in the tourist development tax and other economic conditions have forced the plans to become phased into two stages of construction. The amplified hall and the 300-seat venue were part of Phase I. Phase II includes the acousticical hall. Groundbreaking took place in June 2011.

The center, when fully completed at the end of Phase II, will occupy two city blocks. Some of the existing structures demolished to clear room for the center include Orlando Fire Department Station #1 (which moved to Central Blvd.); an annex building of First United Methodist Church of Orlando; and the round American Federal Building, constructed in the 1960s. The center is bordered by Orange Ave to the west, South St. to the north, Rosalind Ave. to the east, and Anderson St. to the south. Magnolia Ave. bisects the property.^[3]

The first Broadway production to play the Walt Disney Theater was Cameron Mackintosh's new production of The Phantom of the Opera.

References

1. Orlando Sentinel (6 November 2014). "Darden, Magic execs plug Dr. Phillips Center opening". OrlandoSentinel.com.
2. Elizabeth Maupin (2008-08-21). "First look at Orlando's new performing-arts center". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2008-08-22.
3. Mark Schlueb (2006-06-09). "Buildings may fall for arts". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2012-04-05.