Winter Park & Maitland

[jrs2]

https://www.growthspotter.com/2023/11/17/winter-parks-alfond-inn-completes-36-million-expansion-with-new-rooms-spa-with-photo-gallery/

[Ivanhoe]

Maitland plans new $18.7 million library

[Ivanhoe]

Awarding the Florida Black History museum to Eatonville over St. Augustine should be a no brainer.  Never underestimate those Tallahassee politicians though…

Eatonville closes gap in rankings to host Florida’s Black history museum

 

[jrs2]

16 hours ago, Ivanhoe said:

Awarding the Florida Black History museum to Eatonville over St. Augustine should be a no brainer.  Never underestimate those Tallahassee politicians though…

Eatonville closes gap in rankings to host Florida’s Black history museum

 

I don't know who the finalists are, but, I would rank Daytona over Eatonville simply because of the history with M. M. Bethune, Jackie Robinson, and of course, BCC, and Daytona's history of having hosted BCR all those years and it's history of having black mayor's. Eatonville is a "nothing" compared to Daytona in this respect. In fact, I would award it to Daytona outright.  Even over Tallahassee with FAMU there. More black history in Daytona with investment and relevance than anywhere else in the state, especially compared to Eatonville. IMHO...

[JFW657]

1 hour ago, jrs2 said:

I don't know who the finalists are, but, I would rank Daytona over Eatonville simply because of the history with M. M. Bethune, Jackie Robinson, and of course, BCC, and Daytona's history of having hosted BCR all those years and it's history of having black mayor's. Eatonville is a "nothing" compared to Daytona in this respect. In fact, I would award it to Daytona outright.  Even over Tallahassee with FAMU there. More black history in Daytona with investment and relevance than anywhere else in the state, especially compared to Eatonville. IMHO...

Besides, Eatonville is just too rinky-dink to really draw the most potential visitors anyway.

DB has so many other attractions that draw visitors, some of whom will do an unplanned visit to the museum as a side trip. 

Also, a significant portion of those visitors in DB would be white, which is the group I would think they'd most like to reach.

With a majority of black visitors, which is what they'd get in Eatonville, they'd just be preaching to the choir.  

[jrs2]

On 4/21/2024 at 1:01 PM, JFW657 said:

Besides, Eatonville is just too rinky-dink to really draw the most potential visitors anyway.

DB has so many other attractions that draw visitors, some of whom will do an unplanned visit to the museum as a side trip. 

Also, a significant portion of those visitors in DB would be white, which is the group I would think they'd most like to reach.

With a majority of black visitors, which is what they'd get in Eatonville, they'd just be preaching to the choir.  

I do believe Eatonville got screwed with FDOT not giving them an interchange.  But, yes, good points; you can "spread the word" to a wider audience in DB...

[cubanbread]

Not only is Jacksonville is the epicenter of Florida's Black community, its where the Black national anthem was written, and has the largest concentration of Gullah Geechee people in the country. Seems strange it wouldn't be at the top of the list. 
Wherever it ends up, I hope they build a giant statue of John Horse who's probably the most badass Floridian to have ever existed, I'm surprised they haven't made a movie about him yet.

[jrs2]

3 hours ago, cubanbread said:

Not only is Jacksonville is the epicenter of Florida's Black community, its where the Black national anthem was written, and has the largest concentration of Gullah Geechee people in the country. Seems strange it wouldn't be at the top of the list. 
Wherever it ends up, I hope they build a giant statue of John Horse who's probably the most badass Floridian to have ever existed, I'm surprised they haven't made a movie about him yet.

where is Daytona on that list?  Maybe Miami gets it b/c of Liberty City and big bass music from the late '80's.

[RedStar25]

5 hours ago, cubanbread said:

Not only is Jacksonville is the epicenter of Florida's Black community, its where the Black national anthem was written, and has the largest concentration of Gullah Geechee people in the country. Seems strange it wouldn't be at the top of the list. 
Wherever it ends up, I hope they build a giant statue of John Horse who's probably the most badass Floridian to have ever existed, I'm surprised they haven't made a movie about him yet.

Wow I did not know that! That's so cool.  I played "Lift Every Voice and Sing" every February. 

2 hours ago, jrs2 said:

where is Daytona on that list?  Maybe Miami gets it b/c of Liberty City and big bass music from the late '80's.

Sadly Liberty City is being bulldozed as Downtown Miami is sinking into the ocean. 

[jrs2]

On 4/24/2024 at 4:17 PM, RedStar25 said:

Wow I did not know that! That's so cool.  I played "Lift Every Voice and Sing" every February. 

Sadly Liberty City is being bulldozed as Downtown Miami is sinking into the ocean. 

yes, I can tell from all of the multi-billion dollars in downtown development and investment still going on, especially at PortMiami with the new cruise terminals uc.

[orlandocity87]

I think this was put up within the last few days at Orange/Minnesota/Denning in Winter Park. 

[jrs2]

On 4/27/2024 at 5:01 PM, orlandocity87 said:

I think this was put up within the last few days at Orange/Minnesota/Denning in Winter Park. 

that intersection...I was like...if all that work they did was simply to clear the land with no building there...what a waste.  But look at it...it's right by that clock tower there...

I just found this:

https://winterparkvoice.com/oao-board-approves-plans-for-office-building-next-to-seven-oaks-park/

https://the32789.com/2024/02/02/a-park-and-a-roundabout-are-posing-problems-for-mccraneys-winter-park-office-plan/

[orlandocity87]

Thanks for the info. I'm glad that corner is getting filled in. A three-story building will play off the new park nicely. Interesting about the roundabout. It's the perfect scenario for one--if they can fit it.

I wish they'd worked with the city to build a small garage to accommodate shoppers and park visitors on evenings and weekends. That would also solve the parking / roundabout issue the second article talks about.

[codypet]

If that was in the 2023 adoption plan, the land developer isn't actually planning on building out this site as shown, they're planning getting the most possible $$$ for payouts when the City tries to acquire R/W.  Pretty common tactic when R/W becomes known for vacant parcels.

Also they're going to one lane in each direction on Orange.  Interesting.

Edited April 29 by codypet

[orlandocity87]

22 hours ago, codypet said:

If that was in the 2023 adoption plan, the land developer isn't actually planning on building out this site as shown, they're planning getting the most possible $$$ for payouts when the City tries to acquire R/W.  Pretty common tactic when R/W becomes known for vacant parcels.

Also they're going to one lane in each direction on Orange.  Interesting.

The article makes it sound like a serious project, with the new owners unhappy with the roundabout easement because it'll require a redesign of the building (McCraney’s corporate headquarters). 

[codypet]

18 hours ago, orlandocity87 said:

The article makes it sound like a serious project, with the new owners unhappy with the roundabout easement because it'll require a redesign of the building (McCraney’s corporate headquarters). 

Yea it'll force a redesign of the building, claim it'll cost $$$$$$ to redesign the building when it'll really cost $$$ or they were planning on redesigning anyway for one reason or another.   The more they play the victim, the more leverage they get over the City to pay swiftly and generously.

[jliv]

4 hours ago, codypet said:

Yea it'll force a redesign of the building, claim it'll cost $$$$$$ to redesign the building when it'll really cost $$$ or they were planning on redesigning anyway for one reason or another.   The more they play the victim, the more leverage they get over the City to pay swiftly and generously.

It would also be a waste of a highly-visible space for such a bland building you could easily plop into Maitland.  That stretch of Orange Avenue has been in need of some love for decades; it could be a great pedestrian thoroughfare with restaurants, cafes and shops as an alternative Park Avenue (with a focus on homewares and design).  Instead, you get another Lego piece dropped into the mess of medical office buildings and drive-through banks which suck the life out of too many intown main streets.

Edited May 1 by jliv

[jrs2]

27 minutes ago, jliv said:

It would also be a waste of a highly-visible space for such a bland building you could easily plop into Maitland.  That stretch of Orange Avenue has been in need of some love for decades; it could be a great pedestrian thoroughfare with restaurants, cafes and shops as an alternative Park Avenue (with a focus on homewares and design).  Instead, you get another Lego piece dropped into the mess of medical office buildings and drive-through banks which suck the life out of too many intown main streets.

Chicago is littered with angular buildings at all of these 6-corner intersections, which makes them iconic.  I wish they could do something like that here...

[Ivanhoe]

Nice infill project in Winter Park — just the sort of thing that would work at Orange & Pine:

https://www.growthspotter.com/2024/05/15/mixed-use-building-proposed-for-prime-location-in-downtown-winter-park/