ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. -- For more than 16 years, the tallest building in Seminole County sat empty and unfinished.
- 'I-4 eyesore' could be open next year
- Building has been unfinished for more than 16 yrs.
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But the building many people have dubbed the “I-4 Eyesore” could be open for business in the next year.
Claud Bowers, who’s overseen the longtime construction of the building says he’s heard the criticism.
“We understand that completely, and I try to avoid that as much as I can but I listen to critics, and I understand,” said Bowers, President and CEO of SuperChannel WACX-TV.
The religious, independent local station has relied largely on donations to fund the building project. But when those donations didn’t come in as expected, building slowed down. Bowers says he didn’t want to borrow large sums of money to keep construction going.
“Our concept from the beginning was to pay as we go and move in debt-free,” said Bowers. “So we’ve been paying as we go, and we’re going to move in debt-free.”
Bowers says in recent years, donations picked back up. And then -- when the I-4 construction started -- Bowers says FDOT needed some land and paid SuperChannel for it.
“They were very fair and that helped us, so that was an important boost at the right time,” said Bowers.
Bowers says some construction work was done each year to satisfy Altamonte Springs building permit requirements. But in the last couple of months, anyone on I-4 or in the nearby Cranes Roost Park area have noticed a lot more work going on.
Even when that work wasn’t as visible, Bowers said more was going on that people realized. He says much of the 1000-car parking lot is underground.
“Two floors on this side and three floors on the Cranes Roost side are actually underground, so obviously, that was a lot of expense and a lot of the project that was going on when people probably thought not a lot was happening,” said Bowers.
In mid-July, many people noticed something that sparked a lot of attention on social media – lights on inside the building at night.
“It certainly helped the project because people saw there’s just not a dark, glass building out there,” said Bowers.
Bowers says he wanted those lights on so crews could soon begin working on the inside of the building at night, so ultimately the project gets finished sooner than later.
The “Majesty Building” will house SuperChannel’s TV studios, hundreds of leased-out office space, retail shops open to the public, an auditorium and banquet halls.
“It’s a vertical city,” said Bowers.
Bowers says he’s heard the critics, but for now his main focus is to finish the building.
“We’re focusing now on the finishing phase and let the building do the talking,” said Bowers. “And it’s beginning to talk.”
Part of the I-4 Ultimate construction plans include adding a new entrance and exit off Central Parkway, the road the building’s main entrance is off of.
The interchange will be on the Orlando side of Central Parkway. Bowers says that addition will help alleviate traffic in and out of the building when it’s finished.
Bowers says the building should be finished in the next eight to twelve months.