“I Wish This Was” is a semi-regular series that transforms ignored, vacant lots and properties in Orlando into something the City Beautiful can be proud of.
When Exploria Stadium was first built, in the belly button-center of the Parramore neighborhood/main street, the City of Orlando required a larger pond to divert any of the stormwater that would be displaced by all of the new hard surfaces. It’s just a development thing, y’all.
That pond, located on the southeastern corner of South Lee Avenue and West Church Street, is essentially just a squarish box cut into the ground across the street, despite being labeled as a park (it’s called the “Parramore Heritage Park”), has been a bit of an eyesore ever since. But an Orlando-based architect wants to change that.
Enter Ryan Young of the Parramore-based architecture firm, Interstruct Inc. (Website), who recently took to social media to share his vision for the space, which happens to be directly adjacent to his fancy new headquarters at 814 W. Church Street [GMap].
Young and his team are trying to seduce the City into letting them adopt the park and make it more of an amenity for the neighborhood rather than just a gaping hole filled with trash and mosquitoes. Young is proposing to build a bridge/boardwalk over the pond and allow for public gatherings, a place to revive the defunct Parramore Farmers Market, and make it into something really special – while still serving its purpose as a retention pond.
See his full post and video walkthrough below. The only thing I think is missing is a houseboat food truck serving barbecue ribs.
This plan has not been formally adopted by the City of Orlando and Young is still in the process of wooing City Hall.
