Accelerating growth of Orlando's life science industry. Global domination of the nation's digital media industry. Two bold goals of the Metro Orlando EDC. Real strides were made toward realizing those goals recently with groundbreakings on both fronts.
Nemours Children's Hospital broke ground on its Lake Nona "medical city" campus. The 620,000-square-foot facility will include 95 beds, an 18-bay emergency department, a neonatal intensive care unit and departments specializing in complex childhood diseases. The hospital, scheduled to open in 2012, will be the central hub of a 60-acre pediatric health campus featuring a children's clinic, emergency department, diagnostic and ambulatory programs, education centers and research programs. The Nemours Children's Hospital investment is expected to pump $400 million into the Central Florida economy and eventually create 2,600 new jobs.
In addition, Full Sail University, a Winter Park-based education program that focuses on entertainment-related industries, broke ground on its new Full Sail Studios Gateway project. The 32,000-square-foot, 2.2-acre project will be equipped with a live performance venue, a two-story complex for game production and recording studios, and an expansion to the on-campus professional film studio backlot. The Hollywood-style backlot will complete the existing backlot and will offer 19 different outdoor filming locations.
