Crews begin demolition of Citrus Bowl

ORLANDO, Fla. — Crews started taking apart the Citrus Bowl Wednesday.

The iconic scoreboard took just seconds to come down, and on top of it, city officials strapped a camera that captured the first steps of demolition.

"As soon as the scoreboard game down, the ground shook and the music went off. It was like, 'Yay!' Now, I am ready for the future," said CEO of Florida Citrus Sports Steve Hogan.

The future is a $200 million reconstructed Citrus Bowl that will look nothing like the dilapidated stadium that first opened in a much smaller version about 80 years ago.

"We told (the construction company) if they wanted the job, they had to get that done. So in order to be the contractor on the job they had to commit to get that job done in 10 months," said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.

By noon on Wednesday, construction crews went to work, tearing down entire sections piece by piece.

They are on a tight schedule. Officials plan to have most of the reconstruction done by November.

The new stadium will seat 65,000 people. There will be a party deck, new club seating and new sound and video systems.

Jen Vargas has lived in Orlando most of her life. She was just at the Capital One Bowl weeks ago and said she just had to see the demolition for herself.

"The history and the old stands and the numbers in the seats, it won't look the same. But, the spirit will be there the legacy will be there," Vargas said.

City and county leaders said they hope that renovation of the aging facility will attract more big sporting events and the money that comes along, to Orlando.

WFTV