The City of Orlando is inching ever-nearer to building its ambitious Under-i park in downtown Orlando, with the recent announcement that it had chosen a top-ranked firm to take the helm.
AECOM Inc. was selected as the top-ranked firm following a public RFP process launched in November that had chosen four shortlisted design companies that included Kimley-Horn, Jacobs, and DRMP. AECOM has been involved in the creation of high-profile buildings like the One World Trade Center in New York and the Orange County Convention Center on International Drive.
AECOM will now need to sign a contract with the City of Orlando before creating the final designs for the new urban park which will be built under I-4 between Parramore, Creative Village, and the Central Business District. Click HERE for more information on the project.
The winning package included a number of design elements with standout ideas that we’ve included below and we even made a list of ideas ourselves that you can see HERE. A final design is yet to be created but the City estimates that the park will be completed by the end of 2024.
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This looks absolutely wonderful! My best friend Mike Phillips works for AECOM and he gets the job done. By the way, I work with people experiencing homelessness in downtown Orlando and have done so for 20 years. Right now, people are sleeping and using drugs daily where this park will be. Just the facts here. I know most of them by name. If the designers don’t take into account the tendency of folks like this making it unpleasant, they need to take a look at it. The City has removed benches in the Orange County History Center Park and Lake Eola (east side), just recently because several of these guys and gals will choose to stay here all day and night if allowed. Our community is working on housing many of these individuals but no matter what services are offered, some will choose the park bench.
Think those who parked under I-4 before it’s improvement would rather have their parking back than a basketball court.