Rare Peacock, White as Snow, Turning Heads in Winter Park

City Commission also sets a discussion about the fate of Blue Bamboo for next month and green lights a new parking garage

May 14, 2026

By Beth Kassab

City Manager Randy Knight was at home one day about a week ago when spotted a strange sight out his window.

Perched on his neighbor’s fence was one of the city’s trademark peacocks, but not the vibrant blue and green variety enshrined on the city’s seal.

“It was all white,” Knight said. “I don’t know if I have ever heard of a white one.”

It was such a rare sight, he immediately snapped some photos and let his neighbors know, too.

Now the snow white peacock is getting buzz like occasional sightings of celebrities on Park Avenue (think comedian Carrot Top or, a few years ago, Paul McCartney).

Commissioner Kris Cruzada, who also lives near the Winter Park Pines Golf Course, said he hasn’t seen the rare bird yet, but is on the lookout.

It looks “almost heavenly, like an angel practically,” in the photos, he said, after he brought up Knight’s sighting at Wednesday’s City Commission meeting.

White peacocks occur in the wild at an estimated rate of just one in 30,000, according to a post published last year by the Environmental Literacy Council. They are found in Florida and California and descend when a genetic mutation occurs in the more common Indian Blue Peafowl.

Winter Park is well known for the blue variety, which have lived for decades in the Windsong neighborhood, often spotted along Genius Drive.

The council’s post reported that most white peacocks are not albino, but have a condition known as leucism, which results in a reduction of pigment and can still have blue eyes.

Knight said he read that white peacocks can struggle to find mates because they lack the typical brightly colored plume and perhaps this one made its way from the Windsong area to his neighborhood.

“I’ve never even seen the colorful kind in our neighborhood,” Knight said. “I don’t know if this one was in Windsong and started looking for love in all the wrong places, but its been there for about a week and a half.”

Knight, who is set to retire early next year after 35 years with the city, joked that perhaps it’s a good sign for his next chapter.

“It does mean prosperity,” he said.

Blue Bamboo Discussion to be in June

The City Commission on Wednesday scheduled a work session about the Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts’ proposed sublease to a school for June 25.

The move came in response to a request from Blue Bamboo leaders, who pulled the sublease from this week’s City Commission agenda after questions mounted about whether the intended user known as Alpha School meets standards set out in the master lease for the old city library building that was envisioned as an arts and nonprofit hub.

While members of the public are typically not allowed to speak at work sessions, commissioners said they would make an exception and allow people to sign up to voice their opinions at the June meeting.

There was a brief debate among commissioners about whether the work session should take up only the proposed sublease or if there should also be a discussion about what to do with the building if Blue Bamboo is unable to continue operating after its lease payments are scheduled to increase in August.

The comments signaled a clear concern by multiple commissioners about the future of the operation if a sublease is not approved.

“To me, it feels strange to discuss, if they don’t stick around past August, to discuss future plans with them there,” said Commissioner Elizabeth Ingram.

“I would concur with you. I don’t want to talk about trying to sell it out from under them while they are still in there making lease payments,” Mayor Sheila DeCiccio said. 

The Blue Bamboo, which opened last summer, has so far met its financial obligations to the city and President Jeff Flowers said the venue is mostly booked with shows through January. But Flowers has also acknowledged the importance of a sublease for the second and third floors to help the music venue cover its increasing rent payments.

A New Parking Garage Behind City Hall

Commissioners on Wednesday also decided to move forward with asking developers for concepts to build a parking garage behind City Hall to help alleviate concerns about enough parking spaces off Park Avenue. 

The idea is that the city would provide the land — now a parking lot — and a developer would build the garage, potentially with retail or other commercial spaces, as a public-private partnership.

The city’s ask is for a minimum of 265 spaces or a minimum of 120 new parking spots in the area on top of what is needed for city employees and operations.

Whether the new public parking is free and how many spaces will be added will be part of the negotiations as the city reviews whatever ideas are submitted in the coming months.

Most commissioners appeared in favor of a new garage, but Ingram expressed reservations.

“I’m going to be a hard sell on parking garage but I might be out-voted anyways,” she said. “I just feel it is so permanent and so in your face … I can still find a parking spot anytime I come down here. Sometimes it’s a little farther away or I have to circle around, but even at Christmastime I can find a parking spot.”

Other commissioners agreed they can also typically find spots — and know where to look because they live there — but fear visitors are unfamiliar with the side streets and might experience more frustration at peak times. According to city data the Park Avenue area attracted some 3 million visitors last year.  

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