Orlando Magic News for July 26th: Construction Begins on New Arena

An artist's rendering of the new Orlando Events Center, which will have a 120-foot-tall glass tower as its focal point.

OrlandoEventsCenter.com

• The Magic officially broke ground on the new Orlando Events Center yesterday. The team's website has details, as does the Orlando Sentinel and Florida Today. Here's a quote from Bob Vander Weide, the Magic's President:

  "We dreamt of this day, it's here and it's a beautiful day for this region," Vander Weide said. "Twenty-six months from now we're going to have a great facility and the Magic will go about pursuing winning a championship for this area."

  While I share Bob's enthusiasm for the project, I would hope the Magic would pursue a championship while still calling Amway Arena home.
• Concurrently, the Powers Who Be launched the venue's official website, which features, among other things, a live feed of the construction site. Nifty.
• Dwight Howard contributed 6 points, 7 boards, and 3 blocks in Team USA's 120-65 romp over Team Canada in an exhibition game last night. He made all three of his shot attempts. Here's the box score.