As sketched by Mayor Buddy Dyer Tuesday, the remake of Downtown Orlando aims to make forgettable spaces into can’t-miss destinations.

In a roughly 30-minute State of Downtown speech Tuesday, Dyer laid out the latest version of the city’s DTO Action Plan, which uses an acronym for Downtown Orlando. The annual speech serves as a fundraiser for the Downtown Orlando Partnership.

Among the priority projects: turning Magnolia Avenue from a cut-through into the city’s version of New York’s Park Avenue, or Chicago’s Magnificent Mile.

“Over the years, the prime stretch of road from South Street to the Courthouse has become a pass-through area with no identity and no soul,” he said. “We’re going to change that in a big way.”

Screens overhead displayed a batch of conceptual renderings for this long-discussed remake for the first time, showing the now one-way northbound street transformed into a two-way road with wide sidewalks, on-street parking, public spaces and shade trees.

These changes, Dyer contends, will make it the city’s spine.

“The new Magnolia Avenue will be a destination where businesses want to be and where residents and visitors want to spend their time and money,” he said.

LYMMO’s bus routes would be realigned to accommodate the plan.

Orange Avenue from Colonial to South Street is also in line for a makeover – and likewise expected to feature two-way traffic with a center turn lane and medians, offering parking spaces, pickup and dropoff zones, outdoor dining and other amenities during the day for office workers, and into the evening for dinner and late-night crowds.

“Orange Avenue should be the embodiment of the 18-hour city,” he said.

Dyer asked the audience of business executive and community leaders how often they drove by Lake Lucerne Park, which lies beneath the hulking State Road 408 overpasses south of downtown. Many raised their hands. But few hands remained raised when he asked if they’d ever considered stopping to visit there.

The area could become a signature park on the southern edge of downtown, he said.

“Lake Lucerne is a sleeping giant,” he said. “We’re going to . . . transform the lakefront into a leisure destination with jogging paths, an event lawn, shade structures, a boardwalk and of course, playgrounds.”

The lake is bisected by a mostly unadorned Orange Avenue. Renderings show its rebirth with a boardwalk and jogging path circling the west side, weaving among support beams of the hulking highway. There is a fountain and upgraded greenery. The east side is similar, with amenities more appropriate for the neighborhood, as it backs up to Delaney Park.

The vision for downtown has been discussed for years, and many of the changes outlined remain conceptual, not imminent. Among unanswered questions: How much will it cost, and where will the money come from?

A more detailed look at the plan is expected Monday morning in a city council workshop where it will be reviewed and discussed in detail.

“Let’s be clear: This is a big long-term undertaking,” Dyer said. “But the results will help fuel a higher quality of life and create economic opportunity.”

One long-discussed project is on the verge of moving forward, he announced.

The mayor said “The Canopy” park planned underneath several blocks of Interstate 4 is due to break ground early next year.

Also announced in the speech: Live Nation plans to operate a 3,500-seat venue at Westcourt, the sports and entertainment district approved earlier this year adjacent to the Kia Center. According to a news release, the venue is expected to host up to 125 events per year, ranging from comedy to concerts, community events, and business meetings.

Construction is set to begin next year and opening is scheduled for 2027.