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I’m certain that you didn’t experience the other half of Orlando during your time in the bubble last summer, @KingJames. Next time you’re here, let’s go out for lunch.
— Mayor Buddy Dyer (@orlandomayor) May 29, 2021
You’ll see that our community is diverse, inclusive and vibrant. https://t.co/UJl7jkMAI1
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer always has dreamed of Central Florida becoming the nation’s No. 1 sports destination, although these are certainly not the circumstances he had in mind. As the nation confronts the health and economic crisis brought on by the coronavirus, Dyer confirmed Friday that Orlando is indeed “in the mix” to host the re-start of both the NBA and MLS seasons but insisted “nothing is set in stone” just yet.
Said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, “We’ve partnered with AdventHealth and the Orlando Magic to transform the Amway Center into a hub for healthcare equipment and supplies that the hospital system will use to distribute needed supplies to its 50 hospitals across our region and in seven others states across the country. We are proud to have partners, like Advent Health and the Orlando Magic, who are helping now and preparing for future needs as we continue to respond to the impacts of COVID-19. As a city, we are happy to help in this effort.”
A large crowd of war veterans and their supporters gathered in front of Orlando City Hall on Friday to protest Orlando and Orange County leaders attending the NBA All-Star Game at the Amway Center later this month. They offered a public plea to Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs and other community leaders, asking that they hand over their tickets to constituents. "Their job is to serve the public, not to benefit from the public," said Vietnam War veteran Thomas Pastore.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said Saturday that although city officials look forward to hosting the 2012 NBA All-Star Game if the tentative labor deal is ratified, he plans to ask the league for the city to host the game again in 2014 or 2015. “We’re extremely pleased and excited to host the 2012 game,” Dyer told the Orlando Sentinel on Saturday. “We would certainly appreciate and welcome the opportunity to host the game in either 2014 or 2015 again, and I will certainly, along with the Magic, make that request. But we’re pretty excited about having ’12.” It’s highly unlikely that the league would play the All-Star Game in one location twice in a three- or four-year span.
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Mayor Buddy Dyer says that Orlando's NBA All-Star Game is tainted even if the league returns to work in time to play it, and that the city deserves a second game, preferably in 2014. "I would think they [the NBA] would have a moral obligation to give us a second All-Star game since we wouldn't be getting the All-Star game in the fashion that it was promoted to us," Dyer said.
That's why David Stern and NBA ownership needs to assure our city amid this cumbersome, contentious NBA labor dispute that we will get another All-Star Game at a more appropriate time. Even if the dispute is settled sometime soon, Orlando should not be stuck with an All-Star Game during what would be a dreary, lockout-shortened NBA season. "I would think they [the NBA] would have a moral obligation to give us a second All-Star game since we wouldn't be getting the All-Star game in the fashion that it was promoted to us," Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer acknowledged.
When the old Orlando City Hall was demolished 20 years ago, it was done with explosives and pyrotechnics and filmed for the movie "Lethal Weapon 3." As workers begin tearing down the 22-year-old Amway Arena late this year, it won't be nearly as dramatic. By Dec. 15, when crews must start the demolition of Orlando's first NBA arena, they'll do it in a fairly deliberate fashion and take as long as six months. In an age of green construction, even an old building's destruction has to be environmentally friendly. "We're becoming known as the most sustainable city in the Southeast," Mayor Buddy Dyer said Wednesday as he revealed details of the demolition. "We're looking at ways to push the envelope, and this is a good one. We think it's a very innovative approach."
Will Dwight Howard stay with the Orlando Magic? That is the $100 million question and one mayor Buddy Dyer hinted the other day that he may have the answer to Dyer says he has been told by Magic CEO Alex Martins that the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement could include a new rule that would allow the Magic to outbid other suitors for Dwight’s services. “One thing that might give some comfort to Orlando fans is that one of the thoughts in the new collective bargaining agreement is to give an advantage to teams who are trying to keep their incumbent players,” Dyer says. “That would allow the Magic, for instance, to offer Dwight more money than any other team and (entice him) to stay home.”
At the same time, if a game is canceled, the city doesn't have the expense of paying ushers, ticket-takers, security guards and others. That's bad news for workers and businesses that have sprung up on Church Street to take advantage of Amway Center traffic. "We want to have an NBA season," Mayor Buddy Dyer said. "Economically, I guess the venue would do better because we wouldn't have to man the building, but it would so hurt the merchants around Church Street. The huge concern is not the impact on the city and its venues — it's the income for everybody else who relies on events being held in the Amway Center."
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With support of the city’s mayor and a thank you message from Dwight Howard himself, the grassroots campaign to keep Howard in Orlando is gaining steam even after the team’s early playoff exit last week. StayDwight.com, the website created by local Magic fan Ryan Totka, already has T-shirts, downtown advertising and a billboard. Now it has support from Orlando’s mayor, Buddy Dyer, in an exclusive video (above) praising Howard’s work in the community. And, for the first time on the record, Howard himself acknowledged the website. He wrote about StayDwight.com on his personal blog: “I want to thank the people out there who have created some websites trying to keep me in Orlando,” Howard wrote. “That means a lot to me seeing that outpouring of love. I’ll never be able to thank each and every one of you Magic fans out there, but your cheers and support keep me driving and pushing to better myself so we can win a title here.”
Ryan Totka has ratcheted up his campaign to keep Dwight Howard in town after next season. In April, he debuted his StayDwight.com website. On Friday, Totka and fellow Magic fan, Will Davidson, debuted an ad on a digital rotating billboard on the corner of Goldenrod and University that reads, "Dwight Howard, This Is Your City. StayDwight.com." Davidson, president of Maxmedia Outdoor Advertising, donated the space on the billboard near the UCF campus. Totka said the movement is picking up steam, especially on StayDwight.com. "We're getting a lot of response, a lot of videos from fans for the site," he said. "We're hoping to get the mayor (Buddy Dyer) on video and keep it going. I've heard Dwight already knows about it."
The Amway Center has been award LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification for its sustainable design and construction methods, the team and the city of Orlando announced on Thursday afternoon. The announcement was accompanied with a monument dedication and a garden planting in the Amway Center plaza, led by Magic president Alex Martins and Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer. LEED is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, maintenance and operation of green buildings. LEED ratings are based on a point system that measures the impact on the environment and those who use the building. “Amway Center is living up to its expectations,” Martins said via press release. “We promised to create an arena that was civic-oriented, pedestrian friendly and added to downtown development. We promised a sustainable arena, and are proud to say that with today’s announcement and with great teamwork, we have surpassed our goal for LEED certification.”
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