by Beth Kassab | Aug 25, 2025 | Arts and Culture, City Commission, Historic Preservation
New Park Avenue archway underscores historic Winter Park
A group of private donors combined with public dollars made the $400,000 project possible
Aug. 25, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Winter Park leaders on Monday celebrated the installation of the first of two archways that will bookend Park Avenue.
The $400,000 pair of signs emphasize the city’s commitment to historic preservation and were one of the last projects spearheaded by former Planning & Zoning Director Jeff Briggs before he retired at the start of the year.
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio gives remarks at an event to celebrate the new signs on Monday.
The City Commission provided about half the money for the arches made by Don Bell Signs and eight private donors covered the remainder.
Briggs has said the calls for donations were among the “easiest” he ever made with lots of enthusiasm for the markers that call even more attention to Winter Park’s popular dining and retail corridor, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
The sign on the north end stands at the intersection of Park and Webster avenues next to the public golf course known as the Winter Park Nine and in sight of historic home-turned-venue Casa Feliz.
The city seal now adorns City Hall as part of a refresh of the building over the summer.
A second arch on the south end near Park and Aloma avenues and just across the street from Rollins College is slated to go up at the end of September.
Private donors to the cause are: Rick Baldwin; Jim and Diana Barnes; Mike and Gail Winn; the Allan E. and Linda S. Keen Family; Larry and Joy Williams Private Foundation; Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation; Joe and Sarah Galloway Foundation and the Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation.
The signs aren’t the only noticeable public upgrade along Park Avenue. City Hall, at the intersection of Lyman Avenue is sporting a new paint job with the city seal, featuring a peacock, now prominently displayed to passersby.
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by Beth Kassab | Aug 12, 2025 | Arts and Culture, News
Parade of Bands canceled for second year
The future of the Pop-Tart Bowl tradition that brought crowds to Winter Park is still uncertain
Aug. 12, 2025
By Gabrielle Russon
Paul Canchester, a retiree from the Chicago suburbs, has brought his family to Winter Park to watch the Parade of Bands for years as part of their annual Orlando vacation. The memories started when his kids, now adults, were young.
He described the anticipation waiting for the two university bands in town for the Pop-Tart Bowl shutting down the entire Winter Park downtown to play for free to the big crowd.
“Goodness, it was such excitement,” Canchester said. “We got a seat along Park Avenue and you could hear them playing before you could see them. You knew they were coming because you could hear the music a block or two away. And then it gradually got louder and louder, and then they came around the corner, and there they were, lined up with their uniforms on and playing their music. It was fantastic.”
Canchester said he is disappointed and fears it might not return after the city confirmed to Winter Park Voice that the parade is canceled for the second year in a row.
“The residents love it. The tourists love it,” Canchester said. “I hope they can find a time for the bands to play.”
Similar to last year, the parade is a casualty because of the game’s timing in the evolving college football playoffs.
One city official expressed hope the parade might return in 2026 or 2027 and said the Winter Park will always be a happy Parade of Bands host — whenever that may be.
The game’s weekend afternoon start time – 3:30 p.m., Dec. 27 – makes it logistically impossible to transport the bands to Winter Park for the parade, feed them lunch and then send them off for their other responsibilities for the bowl game, Miller said.
“It just makes it a really tight schedule,” said Johnny Miller, Winter Park’s special events manager, adding the kickoff time is decided by the TV networks. “It’s not in our control or the Pop-Tart Bowl’s control. … Sometimes the lower tier bowls, they get what they get.”
Already, Miller’s phone is ringing as people wonder about the parade’s status even though it’s too early to know which teams are playing in the game.
Somebody even called Winter Park last year, inquiring if another city could poach the parade.
“I don’t want them to think Winter Park doesn’t want to do it,” Miller said.
The Parade of Bands became an annual tradition dating back to 2007 and easily drew at least 2,000 or more — especially if a Florida team was playing in Camping World Stadium.
College football underwent a major change when it expanded to a 12-team playoff bracket in the 2024-25 season. There is talk of more bowl games getting added to the playoffs which could potentially shake up the Pop-Tart Bowl so it ends up in a more high-profile, later time slot to bring back the parade, Miller said.
Miller said it’s unclear the timeline for the proposed playoff expansion.
“It could happen next year. It may be two more years,” Miller said. “Nobody knows.”
But he added the city will welcome back the Parade of Bands as soon as it can.
“It’ll always have a home here,” Miller said.
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Gabrielle Russon is a freelance reporter and former reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, where she covered K-12 education, colleges and universities and the tourism industry. She lives in Orlando with her family and writes about politics, education, theme parks and the courts.
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by Beth Kassab | Aug 12, 2025 | Arts and Culture, City Commission, News
Winter Park gives main character energy in 'Happy Wife'
The authors explain how the city and a number of local haunts became a lavish — and sometimes dark — setting for the novel featured by Jenna Bush on the Today Show
Aug. 12, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Kendall Shores writes about Winter Park like a local because she is one.
Her parents met at Rollins College and married in Knowles Memorial Chapel. She attended Park Maitland, Trinity Preparatory and Winter Park High, where she rowed crew.
She’s seen the glitter of Park Avenue and the dirt swept under the rugs in the old-guard historic homes and the ultra modern mansions that surround the central district.
So when Shores talked to co-author Meredith Lavender about a setting for their debut novel “Happy Wife” she felt called to draw on her personal experience.
“I said, ‘Look, I know everyone thinks their hometown is interesting, but hear me out,'” Shores recalled. “… I think we understand that readers really enjoy a strong sense of place. And Winter Park, when you are there, has a strong sense of place.”
Cue the applause from the urban planners and preservationists.
‘Happy Wife’ throttled to the buzzsphere after the Today Show’s Jenna Bush featured it last month and called it a “delicious, fun summer” read.
City Commissioner Warren Lindsey then passed out copies at the next City Hall meeting and declared the mention not only a worthwhile book rec, but also a little atonement for the Today Show’s recent snub of Winter Park.
Not a word about the city was spoken during multiple unrelated segments filmed at Central Park for the Today Show’s third hour, which only promoted neighboring Orlando. The May appearances, coordinated by Visit Orlando, prompted Mayor Sheila DeCiccio to question the city’s future cooperation and waiver of park rental fees with the taxpayer-funded tourism marketing agency.
“They made up for it,” Lindsey said. “And we have to be able to make fun of ourselves a little bit.”
Is it any wonder the city lends itself so well to fiction?
The book is filled with local references from Interlachen Country Club to Fiddler’s Green Irish Pub and the condominium Enron’s Kenneth Lay called home when he was still with Florida Gas Co.
“Do you not like living here?” the main character, Nora, a 28-year-old whose marriage is at the center of the thriller, asks a friend.
“I like tax breaks. I like boat rides and sunsets on the lake and summer all year. But people like Autumn act like this place is $%&ing Paris or something. It’s Florida, not the %&* center of the universe.”
“You’re spicy this morning. Who hurt you? Did someone at the party try to tell you the Morse Museum is better than the MoMA again?”
Lavender and Shores, who both live in Atlanta, say they’ve heard talk of people wondering if any of the characters are based on specific individuals, but they aren’t.
All of the characters formed organically as the authors said they explored the dangers of “romanticizing your life, your partner or even your community too much” through a mystery with a number of turns.
Lavender, a television writer whose credits include “Nashville,” grew up on the north shore of Chicago and hadn’t spent much time in Central Florida.
Now, though, she’s had a proper introduction to Winter Park via Shores including, of course, the Scenic Boat Tour.
“People really have Florida in their minds as one thing and, for me, it had touches of Wisconsin and lake country and I loved that,” she said.
The co-authors expect to be in town again soon for events related to the book. Stay tuned for dates.
And there’s already another story in the works that builds on the last.
Winter Park, Shores said, continues to be the “anchor.”
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by Beth Kassab | Jul 8, 2025 | Arts and Culture, City Commission, Library, News
What Sparked Proposed Protest Ban at Library & Events Center? Mostly photo shoots
Records show photo shoots account for most of the reported disruptions at the Library and Events Center, a popular TikTok backdrop with its sharp angles and vaulted rooflines
July 8, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Winter Park ordered up a spectacle with a more than $41 million Library & Events Center by British architect David Adjaye featuring rose-tinted concrete of sweeping angles and a complex of vaulted pavilions.
The Winter Park Events Center. Photo courtesy of the city of Winter Park.
And that’s exactly what it got based on the reasoning for a proposed new ordinance to limit protests and other gatherings at the public space that opened in late 2021 at Martin Luther King Jr. Park.
“Because of current unrest that is being experienced around the country as well as recent event-related interruptions that have been reported at the Library and Events Center, the city felt this ordinance was necessary,” City spokeswoman Clarissa Howard said in an email. “The Library and Events Center has become a very popular rental venue for weddings, reunions, and other special events. It also architecturally lends itself to serve as a beautiful backdrop for professional and amateur photographers and all types of video productions/recordings. This ordinance would clearly outline the areas in which these types of activities can co-exist balancing public safety and free speech. It is a proactive measure to prevent potential hazards to pedestrian and vehicular traffic.”
A list provided by Howard includes 15 “disturbances” since the beginning of this year. Of those, 10 are described as “photo shoot with props” or “prom photos.” One noted a “changing booth” and “lights.”
The other disturbances were listed as “cars blocking traffic” or “skateboarding/rollerblading/scooter.” Only one was listed as “group with signs” or anything resembling a demonstration or a protest.
The city provided law enforcement call logs for some of the incidents. No one was cited or arrested and the logs appear to indicate the person who called in the complaint dropped the matter or the people or vehicles who were the subject of the complaints moved or left the area when asked.
A search of TikTok and Instagram posts tagged with the library or events center address yielded a handful of users posting photo shoots, wedding videos and other content.
After the first proposal was heavily criticized by two commissioners as potentially unconstitutional last month, the City Commission on Wednesday will consider a revised ordinance that includes a more narrow boundary around the buildings than first presented.
The revised version also includes a lower fine — from a maximum of $500 per day to $200 for the first infraction — for violations referred to Code Enforcement. The new wording also explicitly exempts political activities during elections, which is governed by state law — particularly because the library is a popular early voting site.
A list provided by the city of Winter Park shows disturbances logged at the Library and Events Center in 2025.
Commissioners Warren Lindsey and Marty Sullivan objected to the new rules last month, citing free speech and other concerns.
The blue line represents the new proposed boundary around the Library and Events Center to be considered this week.
“It’s not just just speech,” Lindsey said. “It’s also the right to assembly.”
He said the ordinance is a “solution looking for a problem” and that there are other rules on the books in Winter Park such as a noise ordinance and statutes against disorderly conduct that could apply to the concerns in question.
This image shows the original boundary drawn around the no-protest zone at the Library and Events Center considered on June 25.
All of the incidents on the list took place on a day or time while the Event Center, the city’s highest money-maker when it comes to venue rentals, was rented for a wedding, fundraiser or other private event.
The venue brings in $650,000 to $700,000 each year, according to the city budget. There have been 165 events through May at the venue, mostly for weddings and non-profit or corporate events. Repeat clients include Orlando Health, AdventHealth, the League of Women Voters and City Year Orlando, the budget stated.
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by Beth Kassab | Jun 18, 2025 | Arts and Culture, City Commission, News
Blue Bamboo plans weekend opening
The nonprofit music venue recently secured a $1 million grant from Orange County and is counting down to its debut show in the old library
June 17, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Chris Cortez says the old Winter Park Library is buzzing with final construction and preparation this week before the space debuts this weekend as the city’s newest performing arts venue with two sold-out shows of the Orlando Jazz Orchestra on Sunday.
The opening of Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts, more than a year in the making, comes on the heels of a $1 million construction grant awarded to the organization from Orange County.
“You’ve got to believe it’s possible or you can’t get anything moving at all,” Blue Bamboo founder Cortez said this week of the once long-shot odds of the venue taking over the old city building that was favored to go to Rollins College. “It’s contagious.”
The City Commission pivoted last year from a pitch that would have allowed Rollins to transform the building at the corner of New England and Aloma avenues into a new art museum and instead signed a lease with Blue Bamboo and rezoned the property to accommodate a venue space.
Cortez, a musician, and his wife Melody Cortez, a visual artist, started Blue Bamboo in 2016. They were on the hunt for a new space after the rent soared at their old location off Fairbanks Avenue at the same time city officials were still trying to figure out how to best use the 33,000-square-foot and three-story former library on New England Avenue.
Jeff Flowers, president of Blue Bamboo and a former Maitland City Council member who grew up in Winter Park, said the building has been transformed.
“This drab library was not very inviting and now it’s just … wow,” said Flowers, who noted the old oculus, the circular opening between the first and second floors that spanned 13 feet in diameter was once home to an indoor tree, is now closed.
The first floor features two performing spaces — a main stage with 182 seats and a smaller stage with a seating capacity of about 60.
Flowers said the nonprofit Performing Arts Matters, which he and his wife founded two decades ago to fund groups such as the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra, will have office space in the building.
Central Florida Vocal Arts also plans to take over space on the second floor once construction is done there, said Theresa Smith-Levin, founder and executive director. About $200,000 of the county grant is designated for the group to build out teaching, rehearsal and office space. Central Florida Vocal Arts may use the first floor stages for some of its opera productions.
Cortez said the money from Orange County, which divvys out a small portion of the Tourism Development Tax to local arts groups, will be crucial to completing changes to the building.
He credited contractor Walker & Company with working diligently to help Blue Bamboo secure a certificate of occupancy sometime this week and open by its Sunday deadline.
In addition to the shows planned for Sunday, events are also scheduled for next week and through July.
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by Beth Kassab | Jun 17, 2025 | Arts and Culture, Events, News, Uncategorized
Winter Park awaiting decision on Parade of Bands
The annual December tradition was cancelled last year and may not happen again because of the new college football playoff schedule
June 17, 2025
By Gabrielle Russon
Officials are currently deciding the fate of the annual Parade of Bands in Winter Park.
A decision is expected to be reached next month whether the December parade is a go or if it is canceled for the second straight year in a row.
The parade normally features the two university bands playing in Orlando’s Pop-Tarts Bowl.
“Florida Citrus Sports is the entity that determines whether or not they will have an event. Once we hear from them, then the city works with FCS for the Parade of Bands event coordination and logistics,” Winter Park spokeswoman Clarissa Howard said. “They are in discussions right now and will determine if there is a Parade of Bands at the end of July. At this point, we don’t have a confirmation yet”
The recently released bowl schedule shows the Pop Tarts Bowl begins at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 27 at Camping World Stadium.
It is the same kickoff time as last year that forced officials to scratch the parade because of the logistical challenge of transporting hundreds of band members into Winter Park and feeding them before the game and the bands’ other responsibilities.
Blame the new expanded college playoff system for the earlier kickoff times.
City and FCS officials told the Winter Park Voice last year they were disappointed the parade wasn’t happening in 2024 but would try again in 2025 although they warned they couldn’t make any guarantees.
The parade shuts down Park Avenue as crowds line the street to hear the music and watch the mascots and cheerleaders go by. Then the masses gather in Central Park for a drum-off. The event, which is free, draws all ages and has been a tradition since 2007 in Winter Park.
“It has been a crowd-pleaser every year,” Johnny Miller, Winter Park’s special events manager, said at the time.
The marching bands are scheduled to make pregame cameos this year for tailgating at Tinker Field and a pep rally at Pointe Orlando. However, if there’s no parade, that means Winter Park residents miss out on the convenience and the magic of having the festivities right in the heart of their quaint downtown.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
Gabrielle Russon is a freelance reporter and former reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, where she covered K-12 education, colleges and universities and the tourism industry. She lives in Orlando with her family and writes about politics, education, theme parks and the courts.
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