Celebration AMC 2 theater limbo

02. February 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Businesses In Celebration, Community

No idea what the true status of the (former) Celebration AMC 2 theater is, but here’s what I know.

  1. The theater is still listed for lease on the Sevell Realty Partners web site.
  2. The Sevell agent responsible for the listing has told me directly that it is “temporarily off the market”.
  3. The space is not available for lease from the building’s owner, Lexin Capital.

From what I can observe, the power is still on and food & beverage equipment is still there. Point-of-sale is gone from the concession stand and the box office. I’ve tried to find out from AMC, through their agent, whether projection equipment was left behind, but that answer does not appear to be forthcoming, oddly.

I’ve tried to push something forward for that space as my own personal time allows, but my chief concerns are that 1) my time is limited, since I have a full time job, 2) while I have general business acumen, I have zero movie exhibition experience, 3) I’m not 100% sure what model would work there, and 4) if it’s such a great idea, why hasn’t anyone else stepped up?

Regarding models, it’s one thing to have a few good ideas, but another to flail around trying different things while you’re burning a lot of money each month for rent. There’s no lack of enthusiasm in town for a theater that would play art house, R-rated movies, and cult classics… but would there be enough people voting with their wallets to keep the thing afloat, or would it ultimately be an expensive and humbling lesson about the movie business?

If you do happen to read this, are covertly moving something forward, and would like some assistance, feel free to touch base with me.

MF’er

19. January 2011 · 2 comments · Categories: Community

I posted this on our internal web forum earlier today with the subject line “MF’er” (abbreviated, not spelled out, mind you):

I just had a gray mini-Jeep thing pass me — on the right, mind you — on Celebration Ave before Eastlawn. Tap of the brakes (no stopping) at the Eastlawn four way and then proceeded at 50-55 down towards and into Artisan.

Florida tag [redacted]… you suck, dude.

A few minutes ago I received a call from Town Hall saying that a number of people had called them complaining about my post. Not that I complained about a dangerous driver, not that I posted someone’s tag number, but that I used an acronym of a profanity. I was asked to retitle the post; I complied, as I didn’t get the impression it was subject to negotiation.

What’s telling here is that I doubt those same people would’ve bothered to complain to Town Hall about the individual driving in an erratic manner, ignoring traffic control devices, and exceeding the speed limit by 20+ MPH.

A quick search of the forums shows an instance of WTF and many uses of the word ‘ass’. WTF. I may be on shaky ground with my use of the word ‘suck’.

Live comedy coming to Celebration

17. January 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Businesses In Celebration, Events, Socializing

Live comedy is coming to Celebration! From what I understand, terms were worked out earlier tonight to feature live comedy by a nationally touring comedian every Saturday night at 8:30pm in the Thai Thani banquet room. The first show is scheduled for February 5. Admission is either $12 or can be purchased as part of a dinner and show package.

I hope to have more information in a day or two such as a list of performers and how to purchase tickets. In the meantime let this serve as a save-the-date!

Update 2011-Jan-19: The first six weeks’ acts have been announced. See the Grouchos site for more info.

Things I Don’t Miss About Pennsylvania

14. December 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Photos

From the Things-I-Don’t-Miss-About-Pennsylvania file, I give you Salty Car:


This was parked outside Starbucks this morning and I couldn’t resist taking a picture.

The day the signs came down

12. December 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Businesses In Celebration, Events, Photos

Arrest in Celebration murder

06. December 2010 · 1 comment · Categories: Community, Events

There was an arrest today in the Matteo Giovanditto homicide case.

“A homeless man was arrested Monday afternoon in the first murder in the town of Celebration. David Murillo, 28, was taken into custody and charged first-degree murder.”

Based on the article it sounds like there’s a fair amount of physical evidence pointing to the arrested individual, but I’ll reserve judgment and let a jury decide. The arrest also confirms what the police had previously alluded to in that it was not a random killing.

Other links:

In the last week

05. December 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Community, Events

There’s been a lot of media coverage on Celebration in the last week, including the NBC Nightly News and Today Show, CNN.com, The New York Times, and hundreds of other outlets that picked it up via a wire service.

So far, of the stories I’ve read, this one from the New Urban Network is probably closest to reality and treats the story in a less sensationalist manner than the other sources: News flash: Celebration is not perfect

Mr. Steuteville, if you’re out there, thank you for sharing your perspective on the events here. If you find yourself down this way, let me know and the first round is on me.

Matteo Giovanditto

02. December 2010 · 12 comments · Categories: Community, Events

By now you’ve probably heard of the homicide here in Celebration over Thanksgiving weekend. The murdered man’s name is Matteo Giovanditto.

I didn’t know the man personally, but he was a active participant in the Town’s residents-only message board called the Celebration Front Porch. The Front Porch is divided up into various categories, including Public Safety, Entertainment and Dining, Items For Sale, Real Estate, and so on. It provides a forum for residents to discuss anything and everything related to living in Celebration, such as Halloween crowding, police activity, skywriting, town events, and recommendations for service people.

In the time he’d been in Celebration, Matteo posted 521 messages. His last message, in a thread where someone was asking the community if there was a copy of “The Prince” by Nicolo Machiavelli to borrow, was:

Again, I didn’t know the man beyond the occasional message board conversations, but that message makes me sad. Whatever he did in life or whoever he pissed off, he was still a person with likes and dislikes and thoughts and feelings. He came across as intelligent and articulate, someone who cared about other people and the town.

The Associated Press put a story about the murder on the wire today, so now the story is national and appearing on sites such as CNN.com, Drudge Report, and the Yahoo! front page. They all have the same basic slant: that this is the first homicide in the community planned by Disney and that we usually don’t have murders here and by the way Disney used to own the land and… whatever. Seems like an opportunity to drag Disney — who haven’t been actively involved in the HOA or downtown for a number of years — through the mud for no reason beyond the fact the Disney name generates clicks. Fine.

Statistically, Celebration is still very safe by every measure, and it’s the safest place I’ve lived. We chose to move here and raise our son here due in part to that fact. I’m hoping law enforcement can find and bring the coward who performed this despicable act to justice as soon as possible so we can start putting this behind us.

Celebration homicide investigation

30. November 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Community

I try to keep things upbeat and positive on this site, but I can’t ignore that the Osceola County Sheriff’s office is investigating a suspicious death in one of the condos on Water St. From the article:

The Sheriff’s Office hasn’t said whether they consider the case a homicide. But sheriff’s spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain said the deceased person did not commit suicide. Evidence inside the unit led investigators to label the death suspicious. She would not elaborate.

They aren’t releasing many details at this time. More to follow.

Update 30-Nov 10:00am: The Osceola County Sheriff’s Department is asking for community assistance in locating a 2008 black Chevy Corvette with Florida tag G130FU. If you locate this vehicle, do not touch it. Contact the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office immediately at (407)348-2222.
Update 30-Nov 11:45am: The Sheriff’s Department is now classifying this as a homicide based on evidence in the apartment. Changing title. Very unsettling.
Update 30-Nov 5:15pm: The Sheriff’s Department has located the vehicle in Kissimmee.
Update 30-Nov 10:00pm: The victim has been identified but the individual has not been named yet by law enforcement officials, so I’m holding off posting it for now. I never thought we’d be discussing a Celebration murder, but here we are.
Update 1-Dec 12:00pm: Osceola County Sheriff’s detectives have released the name of the Celebration homicide victim as Matteo P. Giovanditto, 58.

I’ve shared some of my own thoughts about the deceased in this entry.

Links:

Community Vision

29. November 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Community

Celebration residents have an opportunity to provide valuable feedback to our newly-elected Osceola County officials. Community Vision is conducting a survey, wrapping up December 4, and will present the results to Osceola County leadership. From their web site mission statement: Community Vision is a community-based organization committed to the protection and preservation of Osceola County’s natural resources, effective growth management efforts, and the education and training of the county’s citizens.

The survey can be completed online, and only takes a few minutes of your time to provide guidance on some of the strategic direction for the county.

To participate, please click this link. Don’t miss this opportunity to make your voice heard.

« Older articles
Newer articles »