Knights Plaza at University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as Knights Plaza, is an athletic village and shopping center on the main campus of the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, United States. The plaza consists of

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether it ...

for more than 2,000 students in four towers, of commercial space, the 10,000-seat

CFE Arena Addition Financial Arena (formerly known as CFE Arena and UCF Arena) is a sports and entertainment arena located in Orlando, Florida, United States, on the main campus of the University of Central Florida. It was constructed beginning in 2006 ...

, and the 2,300-seat Venue at UCF Arena. The design of the plaza and its mixed use appeal to students, faculty, and surrounding residents, making it a popular community destination.

Facilities

Athletics

Knights Plaza contains many venues to accommodate events of all sizes and forms: *

FBC Mortgage Stadium FBC Mortgage Stadium (formerly known as Bright House Networks Stadium and Spectrum Stadium, also known as the Bounce House) is an American football stadium located in Orlando, Florida, United States, on the main campus of the University of Central ...

– 45,300-seat stadium *

Addition Financial Arena Addition Financial Arena (formerly known as CFE Arena and UCF Arena) is a sports and entertainment arena located in Orlando, Florida, United States, on the main campus of the University of Central Florida. It was constructed beginning in 2006 ...

– 10,000-seat arena * The Venue – 2,300-seat arena *

Jay Bergman Field John Euliano Park, formerly Jay Bergman Field, is a baseball stadium located on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, USA. The stadium serves as the home of the UCF Knights baseball team. History John Eulian ...

– 3,600-seat stadium *

UCF Soccer and Track Stadium The UCF Soccer and Track Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, United States. The 2,000-seat stadium is home to the UCF Knights track and field, cross country and s ...

– 2,000-seat stadium * Cypress Room Event Center * IOA Plaza

Student housing

The Towers at Knights Plaza (Tower I, II, III, and IV) houses 2,000 students, 500 in each tower. Residents of the Towers Community sign annual contracts to rent their apartments for a full academic year (fall, spring, and summer), whereas residents of all other standard housing communities on the main campus sign academic contracts to rent their rooms only for one or two semesters at a time. The Towers house the majority of the upper-classmen who live on campus. Residents of the Towers are provided a secure mail room, and entrance to the buildings and apartments are controlled via the students university identification badge. Apartments in the Towers are offered in various plans ranging from 1 bedroom/1 bathroom to 4 bedroom/4 bathroom, with the majority being 4 bedroom/2 bathroom. Tower III is a learning community for students enrolled in the

Burnett Honors College The Burnett Honors College is an academic college of the University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida, United States. Founded in 1998 as the University Honors Program, it was expanded and renamed in 2002 in response to a $1.5 million g ...

. Most UCF athletes are housed in Tower IV.

Commercial

Knights Plaza contains of retail and restaurant space. The retail stores are located on the streets on both sides of the arena, which lead back to the other stadiums. Additionally, the lobby of the CFE Arena contains a food court as well as interior access to some of the other retail spaces. *Amazon Campus Pickup Point *

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...

*Burger U * CFE Federal Credit Union *

Domino's Pizza Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino's Farms Office Park in Ann Arbor ...

Dunkin' Donuts Dunkin' Donuts LLC, also known as Dunkin' and by the initials DD, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg (1916–2002) in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 195 ...

Jimmy John's Jimmy John's is an American sandwich chain headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. The business was founded by Jimmy John Liautaud in 1983. After Liautaud graduated from high school, his father gave him a choice to either join the military or star ...

*All Knight Study *Knight Aide Pharmacy and Convenience Store * Gringos Locos * Recreation and Wellness Center at Knights Plaza * Subway * The Pop Parlour *

The Princeton Review The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...

*Towers Mail Center *UCF Card Services *Veteran's Academic Resource Center

Events

Knights Plaza hosts hundreds of events throughout the year, ranging from football games that take over the entire UCF campus to block parties and bingo nights.

Athletics

Knights Plaza is home to the

UCF Knights The UCF Knights are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I F ...

athletic programs and was designed as an athletic village. The football team plays in Bright House Networks Stadium, the men's and women's basketball teams in the CFE Arena, and the volleyball team plays in the Venue. The plaza also contains

, a 2000-seat baseball stadium for the men's baseball team, and the 2,000 seat

. Knights Plaza and the adjacent Memory Mall are the prime tailgating location during home football games.

Special events

The CFE Arena has hosted many performances, such as comedians:

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of p ...

Carlos Mencia Ned Arnel "Carlos" Mencía (born October 22, 1967) is a Honduran-American comedian, writer, and actor. His style of comedy is often political and involves issues of race relations, Latin American culture, criminal justice, and social class. He i ...

Bob Saget Robert Lane Saget (May 17, 1956 – January 9, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Saget played Danny Tanner on the ABC sitcom ''Full House'' (1987-1995), and reprised the role for its Netflix sequel '' Fuller ...

and

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

; concerts by

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

; and other events such as the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...

Sesame Street Live ''Sesame Street Live'' is a live touring show based on the children's television show ''Sesame Street'' produced by Feld Entertainment. History The VEE Corporation was started in March 1980 by founder Vincent Egan, who had an idea to produce a l ...

, monster truck shows, rodeos, the circus, and a speech by former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. Throughout the year, Knights Plaza plays movies on a two-story outdoor movie screen in the middle of the plaza for students as well as the surrounding community residents to enjoy. Many people set up a picnic, and Knights Plaza food vendors provide at seat food delivery. Prior to the start of the movie, contests, block parties, and other events take place throughout the plaza. Couches and seats are also provided by Knights Plaza. A

farmers market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

is occasionally held in the open plaza area of Knights Plaza. Over eighty different vendors, sell fresh produce, jewellery, artwork, and other locally made items to students and local area residents.

Light Up UCF

During the holiday season (November–January), Knights Plaza constructs an outdoor ice rink in front of the arena and hosts events nightly to celebrate the holiday season. During ''Light Up UCF'', a high tech light show consisting of over 75,000 lights dances around the plaza to holiday music, and live concerts are performed by bands such as the Marching Knights and local artists. During the 2008 inaugural year, it attracted over 150,000 attendees. The 2009 season included a 20% larger ice rink with the Arctic Guide Ice Slide, the McDonald's Ferris Wheel, Kris Kringle's Carousel, Santa's Village and many more lights to provide more entertainment for attendees.

Future

Knights Plaza has had difficulties filling its remaining retail space due to the current economic circumstances. Many have blamed the lack of free parking, leading the university to suspend parking charges in one the plaza's parking garages on non-event days. Nature's Table Cafe and Mau's Hair and Nails went out of business shortly after opening, and several other retailers never opened their doors, resulting in many unoccupied storefronts throughout the plaza. In order to combat this problem and increase retailer confidence, events are held frequently in the plaza and its venues; due to this, however, the students forced to deal with the additional traffic in order to reach the only study facility on-campus, "All Knight Study", which is located in the plaza also. The remaining retail spaces are slowly filling in with additional retailers. Knights Plaza was initially developed with plans to add additional retail space in two more phases over the coming years. However, due to the difficulties in leasing the original phase, the plans have been delayed and revised. Several of the athletic venues will be expanded and renovated to handle larger crowds, including the completed expansion of the UCF Soccer and Track Stadium to 2,000 seats in 2011, and the planned renovations in 2013 to Jay Bergman Field to add an additional 1,000 seats and new luxury suites. Other future, yet unplanned, expansions are scheduled to include the expansion of

to 65,000 seats.

References

External links

Knights Plaza
Official Website
UCF Athletics
Athletics website
University of Central Florida
School website {{University of Central Florida, facilities University of Central Florida UCF Knights Shopping malls established in 2007 Economy of Orlando, Florida Buildings and structures in Orlando, Florida 2007 establishments in Florida