City of Orlando Grand Avenue Community Center
Repurposing a historic school building into a vibrant community and recreation center
Gilbane partnered with Borrelli + Partners and JCB Construction to provide design-build services to expand and renovate an existing 1926 Mediterranean Revival architecture building that originally served as a school and was designated a historic landmark. The facility has been repurposed as a neighborhood community center and houses services provided by the City’s Downtown Recreation Complex. The project included historic building renovations and new construction with an addition of a gymnasium, art studio, pottery studio, learning spaces, and renovated auditorium space with a 156-seat capacity, kitchen/cafeteria, and offices as well as playgrounds and other outdoor amenities.
Project Overview
- From the schematic stage of the preconstruction process on the project, the team – including the School District of Osceola County (SDOC), Little Diversified and Gilbane – all worked to establish a common project budget goal and drove the design, project buyout and subsequent construction of the building to provide the best value and design solution for SDOC.
- At the onset of the project, the Gilbane team was able to offer SDOC over $1 million worth of value engineering options
- Of that, $220,000 of value engineering options were included into the final GMP
- Throughout construction the team continued to find ways to provide additional value and save the District money, resulting in an additional $220,000 in savings
- $50,000 of which were unused funds that were returned to SDOC at the end of the project
“We’re excited to have the historic Grand Avenue Elementary School redeveloped into a beautiful neighborhood center and once again serving our young residents and surrounding community,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. “This facility will be home to our newly expanded Orlando Pottery Studio and provide a vibrant place for youth programming, community gatherings and more.”
Buddy Dyer
Orlando Mayor
Quick Stats
- Client:
- Location: Orlando, FL
- Architect:
- Size: 66,000 SF
23,000
square foot historical renovations
35,000
square foot new construction
672
seat gymnasium
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