The Venue

The TD Waterhouse Centre is the largest of several facilities owned and operated by the City of Orlando all under the name of "The Orlando Centroplex." The other facilities include the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre, The Orlando Expo Centre, Tinker Field and The Florida Citrus Bowl. Each facility serves a specific purpose and acts as Central Florida's home for the very best in entertainment, sports, expositions and the arts.

One of the finest facilities of its type, the TD Waterhouse Centre serves as home to the Orlando Magic of the NBA, Orlando Seals of the ACHL, Orlando Predators and various world class sporting and entertainment events. The TD Waterhouse Centre, originally named The Orlando Arena, opened in January of 1989 and has since become known across the globe as a first class facility and in 1991 was voted as Arena of the Year. Capacity of the center is as follows:

• 367,000 square feet overall
• 17,740 concert seating (end stage)
• 17,248 basketball seating
• 15,924 arena football seating
• 15,788 circus seating
• 15,948 ice hockey seating
• 16,882 ice show seating
• 18,039 concert seating (center stage)

The Contract

Cleanevent has a contract with the City of Orlando to clean all of The Orlando Centroplex facilities and at the TD Waterhouse Centre we also change the seating and floor layout over from whats required for basketball to ice hockey to concerts and more.  So, at the TD Waterhouse Centre we “Move” and “Clean”.  Yes, and we make the ice too!

The Cleanevent Team

To manage this contract we have a team of 26 regular workers managed by Erick Johnson, the center cleaning manager and Ray DeAngelis, the change over manager.  The Centre hosts around 180 events a year.  At each event we have an event cleaning team supervised by Cecilia

Strickland also known at the team mum, a post event cleaning team supervised by Eduardo Alem and if the seating and floor setup need to be changed, the change over crew managed by Ray, also come in.  Maria Vasques is the team’s administrative coordinator and she makes sure that rosters are issued, timesheets are signed, our management systems are kept up to date and people get paid (very important), supplies are ordered and reports are completed on time.

A Change Over

I went to watch the change over team do their thing one night last week and was very impressed. The “Stars on Ice” show had been in on two nights earlier and the team was there to rebuild the basketball court and the side line areas, and setup and install a court side section of approximately 2,000 retractable seats and floor lighting ready for the Orlando Magic basketball team to start their practice session at 9am the next morning.

The team had worked all night after the ice show to remove the ring side seating, the ice and the ice rink.  It was a difficult night as they were held up by the, ice show crew, who were very slow in getting their lighting, sound equipment and other stage props out of the arena.  The timing of a change over is ‘all important’. The wooden floor panels that make up the basketball court can not be set down till the floor is completely dry else they buckle and warp.   Depending on the weather the drying time is about 2 days.  It also takes a great deal of care and accuracy to get all the panels in exactly the right place.  You try explaining to a 7 foot giant basketball player who is paid half a million USD dollars a year, why he has to put up with a bump in the court floor, a gap between two of the panels or a set of lines that don’t line up!

After making the floor was 100% dry, they started fork lifting the previously stacked panels out onto the floor section by section.  Each panel is covered with a sheet of cardboard and two slats of wood to protect it, before stacking the next panel.  The team was divided into two and they worked from the centre in two directions carefully placing each of the over 100 pound panels into position, then bolting them down into place.  Each team member had a specific job and they worked together like a well oiled machine.  It was amazing to watch and the floor was built in just under two hours.

Many of the team members have been working for Cleanevent for a number of years now doing up to 4 change overs a week. The boys worked hard and had fun at the same time and it was great to see good “team spirit” at work. 

The Future

The Centroplex management team who we work for, is headed up by Alan Johnson, the Executive Director.  His team consists of Ron Spencer and Jon Dorman, who are both Assistant Directors.  David Wagg who is the TD Waterhouse Building Superintendent, Michael Thompson who is the Event Coordinator for the TD Waterhouse Center and the Citrus Bowl.  Greg Thompson is the Citrus Bowl Superintendent. 

Cleanevent is proud to be part of the successful operation of the Centroplex facilities and will continue to work hard to “move” and “clean” the center to perfection. 

Images From Ice Rink
   

To Basketball Court

 



The Team