by Beth Kassab | May 13, 2025 | City Commission, Historic Preservation, News, Uncategorized
An unapproved demo, a $100k penalty and hours of debate
How a demolition in College Quarter led to proposed changes to Winter Park’s Historic Preservation rules, which will be up for a vote Wednesday by the City Commission
May 13, 2025
By Beth Kassab
A year ago, custom builder Charlie Clayton stood before the Historic Preservation Board and apologized, offering to make amends for the unauthorized demolition of a large portion of 965 Lakeview Drive, a 1936 home overlooking Lake Virginia in the College Quarter Historic District.
“I can’t take back what happened,” Clayton told the board on May 8, 2024. “… My interest is not to decimate the resources of the city … I’m not a guy who goes in and tries to destroy the town. I don’t get in trouble like this, but I’m in trouble now.”
Clayton said he even went door to door in College Quarter, one of the largest collections of near-century-old homes in the region, to explain how the second floor of the house was torn down, leaving just the chimney and a small portion of the first floor standing.
The board had only approved the demolition of a garage behind the house and the city ordered work to stop on the project when it learned of the demolition.
Clayton blamed miscommunication with his crew on the site and told the Historic Preservation Board he was prepared to pay $25,000 toward the city’s Historic Preservation Fund and complete the project in a way that would deliver the same end result — a new face on the front of the house that adds additional second-story windows and removes historically inaccurate columns added before the current historic preservation rules were in place.
A photo from the Orange County Property Appraiser shows how the home at 965 Lakeview Drive looked in 2023. The above image shows what the home looked like last year after demolition.
Ultimately, the historic preservation board and staff negotiated the payment to $100,000 and allowed the project to continue. Clayton paid the money the next day.
The board, though, could have issued what some preservationists argue would have been a harsher penalty: Require the homeowner and contractor to reconstruct the home exactly as it was and take back the building variances granted to the project that allowed the homeowner to add square footage to the home.
That choice — a financial penalty or a requirement to build back what was lost and lose valuable variances — will be at the center of the debate expected Wednesday when the City Commission considers proposed changes to the Historic Preservation ordinance touched off by what happened at the Lakeview house.
Commissioners will decide if they want the ordinance to explicitly offer the option of a payment (capped at 30% of the structure’s assessed value) in the event of an unauthorized demolition. Or if they will lean more heavily on the threat of removing variances and requiring reconstruction of an improperly demolished building.
The proposals follow a year of intense debate over the demolition and the historic preservation board’s response.
Ryan Phillips, who owns the home, recorded a conversation with a board member on the sidewalk in front of his house without the board member’s permission and used that to allege he was threatened and treated unfairly.
He spoke at multiple public meetings to allege impropriety over the city’s request that Clayton pay the penalty and lodged state ethics complaints against members of the historic preservation board, a city attorney and former Planning Director Jeff Briggs.
The Florida Commission on Ethics dismissed all eight of those complaints on April 30 because of a “lack of legal sufficiency.”
Phillips and Clayton did not respond to messages seeking comment for this story.
The variances Phillips was allowed to keep for his new construction after the demolition allowed for the home to grow from its original size.
Such variances are key perks for homeowners in historic districts, which enforce architectural standards for the exterior of homes.
Members of Winter Park’s Historic Preservation Board, along with city staff, say they have a job to do: maintain the historic character and authenticity of some 400 properties in the city’s resident-approved historic districts and individually-designated sites.
Their job is not, as retired Planning Director Jeff Briggs once put it, to be the “Historic Replica Board” — or one expected to sign off on every requested demolition or ignore violations of the city’s code. That would render the group a toothless overseer of new construction.
“Basically, it opens the door for everyone to ask for forgiveness and not permission,” Briggs said of violations that harm or destroy historic structures without the board’s approval.
And while the Lakeview house is a recent example of an unauthorized demolition. It’s not the only one.
At the historic preservation meeting last month member Lee Rambeau said changes to the ordinances are needed and she was in favor of adding explicit language about fines.
“I’ve seen a number of properties come before us and the final outcome did not look like what we approved,” she said.
Proposed changes to the ordinance also include stricter application requirements and add a “pre-application” review by the board so that property owners can receive early design feedback before spending a lot of money on detailed renderings. The changes also would require property owners to give more detailed information about the materials they will use and architectural elements.
The change also attempts to cut down on unexpected requests for demolitions after a project starts by requiring applicants to submit a “due diligence assessment” identifying all proposed demolitions or alterations in advance.
A number of historic property owners, including Clayton, spoke out at a community meeting earlier this year against including fines as part of the proposed changes.
At the Historic Preservation meeting in April the board ultimately voted to recommend the version of the ordinance without the fines.
Aimee Spencer, who recently rotated off the board, said that version is potentially harsher on homeowners.
In the case of the Lakeview house, she said, the board attempted to “exercise empathy and kindness” and not penalize the homeowner for work done by the contractor without his knowledge. The project was allowed to proceed as planned rather than have its variances revoked.
But the case became one of what she saw as a “sore winner,” she said.
Wade Miller, who until last month served as board chairman, also said he saw the rebuild requirement and loss of variances as a harsher penalty.
But members of the public and board members spoke against including the fines in the ordinance.
“If that is what I am hearing from the community and members of the board, then so be it,” he said. “… we will see how that plays out … and I think it ultimately will become a much more severe outcome in the future for homeowners of historic properties.”
Betsy Owens, executive director of Casa Feliz, one of Winter Park’s most prominent preservation stories, said a fine could be viewed by some property owners as a cost of doing business rather than a preservation incentive. A requirement to rebuild a demolished structure is considered a best practice in other cities that also value historic preservation such as Coral Gables or Charleston, she said.
“I think the best way to make things right is to have you rebuild what you knocked down,” she said. “Losing variances is a stronger disincentive than a fine.”
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Apr 14, 2025 | Historic Preservation, News
New Manager Seeks to Build on Heritage Center's Programs
Jasmine Harris recently took over as the new leader for the center that preserves and shares Black history and art in Winter Park
April 14, 2025
By Gabrielle Russon
Unhappy as a data analyst doing financial reports at her corporate job, Jasmine Harris quit and took a leap. She went back to the University of Central Florida to get her master’s degree in public history.
Harris, who comes from an unlikely background merging storytelling and numbers, started last month as the new manager handling day-to-day operations at the Hannibal Square Heritage Center.
“I’m right where I’m supposed to be,” Harris said after finding her calling.
Harris is part of a resurgence at the Heritage Center as its new leaders hope to build deeper ties in the community and move past the former leader’s firing that played out publicly in the headlines.
The Heritage Center, which opened in 2007 in the heart of Winter Park’s historically Black Hannibal Square neighborhood, is run by the nonprofit Crealdé School of Art in Winter Park which hired Emily Bourmas-Fry to take over as school’s executive director in January.
The Heritage Center at 642 West New England Avenue in Winter Park.
“With any transition, there’s always going to be a new structure, a new vision, fresh ideas,” Bourmas-Fry said. “We have been busy.”
Bourmas-Fry and Harris said they are in the process of building an advisory committee of longtime Winter Park residents to help guide the center with its programming and exhibits.
They also hope to restart a quilting program and explore holding meditative classes similar to when people gathered there during the Black Lives Matter protests for a community healing space. Other ideas could be offering help for people researching their ancestry.
Bourmas-Fry said she wants the center to partner more with local arts organizations and work with other communities to help them document their local Black history too. She hopes the Heritage Center, which keeps written stories, photos and oral histories as well as offering walking tours, can be a case study on how to document local Black history.
While the neighborhood surrounding the center has been largely redeveloped over the past three decades, the center aims to “be a model for recording and celebrating the culture, history and heritage of threatened communities everywhere,” according to its website.
“Not every community has something like this,” Bourmas-Fry said. “And I’d like to really reach out to those communities and find out how we can help them.”
What’s also important, Bourmas-Fry added, is building a stronger link between Crealdé and the Heritage Center to remind people the two separate campuses are connected and under the same umbrella.
Like all arts organizations, funding also remains a priority, Bourmas-Fry said. Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed millions of dollars from local arts groups last year — including $60,000 for Crealdé. Bourmas-Fry has joined arts advocates to lobby in Tallahassee for the funding to be reinstated.
The center also recently hired a new marketing coordinator, Xena de La Tour, to better promote the center on social media.
End of an Era
Having Harris on board fills a big hole for the Heritage Center.
Outgoing Crealdé executive director Peter Schreyer let go of previous manager and longtime community advocate Barbara Chandler in December.
Chandler did not respond to a request for comment for this story, and Bourmas-Fry declined to comment on the specifics of what happened.
The Orlando Sentinel reported Chandler’s termination came after “unapproved partnerships, failure to communicate key details, and repeated disregard for Crealdé’s policies,” according to an email Chandler shared with the newspaper.
“I hate to see personnel issues played out publicly,” Winter Park Assistant Manager Michelle del Valle wrote in a Dec. 30 email to a city spokesman that was obtained by the Winter Park Voice recently through a public records request. The city of Winter Park owns the Heritage Center’s building.
Chandler argued she had been wrongfully terminated in an open letter she sent out.
Some of Chandlers’ supporters voiced their shock that Chandler, who was once recognized by the Sentinel for making Central Florida a better place to live in 2022, was fired.
“In my humble opinion, this is a great loss since she was the only person fully-focused on HSHC, and no one else has the depth of connections and network to maintain that momentum,” wrote Ruth Edwards, the Winter Park Library’s education director, in a Dec. 13 email to Winter Park Mayor Sheila DeCiccio.
Since then, Chandler has been busy with her company, Barbara Chandler Productions, according to a recent Orlando Weekly story. Chandler is working with the Winter Park Playhouse for a quarterly cabaret series called Sounds of the World. The one-night show played last month with new shows coming in the future while Chandler also works on exhibits and gives walking tours.
Both Harris and Bourmas-Fry praised Chandler for her impact at the center and community-building.
“She left a wonderful legacy behind the Heritage Center,” Harris said.
Bringing Stories Out of the Shadows
On a recent tour to a first-time visitor, Harris paused in front of a photograph of a young Black man smiling in his high school band uniform.
Harris read the caption out loud that told the story of the young man later fighting in the Vietnam War and dying back home alone after suffering from PTSD.
Jasmine Harris stands near an exhibit inside the Heritage Center.
“The stories get lost,” Harris said as she reflected on the Heritage Center’s mission to remember Winter Park’s past. “It’s important to have them written down. If you don’t, then these stories stay in the shadows — marginalized voices.”
In her first few weeks on the job, Harris is learning Winter Park history and finding mentors who have lived it.
“I want to make sure I’m honoring the voices in this community because I understand I am an outsider coming in. I am African-American, but I am not from Winter Park,” said Harris, 29, who is originally from Boynton Beach and lives in Orlando.
It wasn’t until her high school senior year when Harris took African-American history. It clicked. In college, she switched her schedule to make room for history classes “even though my major was math and my advisors didn’t understand it,” Harris said. “OK, you’re taking Calculus 3 and then you’re going to the Psychology of the African-American? I dunno. I just like it all.”
Learning about Black history left Harris with a renewed sense of confidence and hope in a world where the lens into history is often framed by a white point-of-view.
“As a young African-American woman growing up and looking at the mainstream to see that there’s nothing there … I had to go seek that out,” Harris said. “And it just makes you feel more whole in your identity as you navigate this world.”
Harris will finish her master’s in public history at UCF next year after getting her bachelor’s degree in actuarial science with a double minor in statistics and history, also at UCF.
Her background makes her a good fit for the job since Harris is already surveying visitors and analyzing trends which will help with growing the center and grant writing, said Bourmas-Fry who had reached out to UCF’s Africana Studies program for a recommendation when hiring the manager job.
“That was really vital for us, making sure that we got the right person,” Bourmas-Fry said. “Her breadth of knowledge and her love of history and her passion and the fact that she was so invested” is why Harris stood out.
Harris’ background focuses on African-American history from a global scale. Now, she is learning the dates and details in the 100-year-old-plus history of Winter Park to run the Heritage Center.
“I just can’t wait to see how I can be of service,” Harris said.
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.
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Jan 9, 2025 | City Commission, Historic Preservation, News
New fines for historic preservation demos delayed
The commission also decided against a mail-only vote on gas-powered leaf blowers and recognized the Winter Park High volleyball team as state champs
Jan. 9, 2025
By Beth Kassab
The City Commission put off for 60 days a decision on new penalties for historic properties that are demolished without approval after residents spoke out against the new rules and called for more opportunities to give input.
Speakers included Charlie Clayton, who owns a construction company involved in the unauthorized demolition of 965 Lakeview Drive in the historic College Quarter neighborhood, which is bordered by Rollins College and Lake Virginia.
He stepped to the podium and referred to himself as the “scourge who created this” and called for additional workshops about the new rules before they are put into place.
A photo from the Orange County Property Appraiser shows how the home at 965 Lakeview Drive looked in 2023. The above image shows what the home looked like last year after demolition.
Winter Parkers have long tussled over historic preservation rules with some in the camp of preserving the architectural contributions of often smaller homes built 50 or 100 years ago and others looking to maximize square footage on high-priced lakefront lots and other valuable property with more modern builds.
Suzanne Brandon, who lives in College Quarter, said she was in favor of the new rules to preserve the neighborhood, but also asked for more communication with the residents.
“I am in favor of this … we do need the 30% fine to prevent developers from bypassing the historic preservation board,” she said. “We need to make sure what is being built maintains the historic aesthetic.”
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio expressed disappointment that over time the rhetoric turned “nasty” and caused “divisiveness.” She noted that people move to Winter Park because of its charm and the unique historic homes that add value to the city — “that’s what keeps our housing prices so high.”
She supported a 60-day pause on the new rules and fines to allow staff to hold a workshop with historic home owners and other interested residents to provide more feedback on the changes.
No mail-only vote for leaf blower question
After urging the commission to move to a mail-only ballot for upcoming vote on whether the city should keep its ban on gas-powered leaf blowers, City Manager Randy Knight on Wednesday put a halt to that concept.
Turns out, he said, that a mail-only ballot would cost the city an additional $20,000 or so compared to an in-person vote.
As a result, commissioners opted against moving to the mail-only method if the two seats up for grabs on the commission remain unopposed by the Jan. 21 deadline. The election will be held March 11.
Good news for Winter Park Playhouse
The board gave official approval for a contract to by the building occupied by the Winter Park Playhouse. The nonprofit professional musical theater has spent nearly two years trying to secure a home after the building’s owner decided to sell and told the group it would lose its lease.
The deal is made possible through an $8 million grant from county Tourist Development Tax dollars. The Playhouse has pledged to raise $2 million toward the project.
“I hope you are able to hear the applause that erupt at the playhouse every time we announce that we will be able to stay at our location,” playhouse board member Judith Marlowe told the commission.
Volleyball team recognized as state champs
Winter Park High Volleyball is honored Wednesday at the City Commission.
Commissioners took a moment on Wednesday to celebrate the Winter Park High School volleyball team, which won the state title in November, it’s sixth championship in the program’s history.
“We played the toughest schedule we could find,” said Coach Stephanie Gibson, who was recognized last month as Florida Dairy Farmers girls volleyball coach of the year, making her what the Orlando Sentinel called a “36-year legend and the first coach to claim that honor five times.” “I’m so proud of the work we do on the court, probably the more impressive thing is each and every athlete also received” honors related to their academic performance.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Jan 8, 2025 | City Commission, Historic Preservation, News
Todd Weaver tables own request to add his home to city's historic register
A state senator on Wednesday intervened in the matter and called the request by a sitting commissioner ‘a little weird’
Jan. 8, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Commissioner Todd Weaver withdrew his request on Wednesday to add his 1957 home to Winter Park’s historic register after complaints — including from state Sen. Jason Brodeur.
Weaver prefaced his remarks at Wednesday’s City Commission meeting by noting concerns that he called unfounded “by a few dissenters who don’t offer any positive ideas.”
Todd Weaver
Former Commissioner Pete Weldon, who Weaver unseated in a heated 2019 election, sent an email this week to residents accusing Weaver of failing to pull the proper permits when he converted a detached workshop behind the house to a small living space among other issues.
Brodeur sent an email Wednesday afternoon with the subject line, “Does this look historic to you?” and a photo of a house that does not belong to Weaver. The email from Citizens for Solutions, Brodeur’s political committee, went on to say that adding Weaver’s “lakefront ranch” to the historic register, “two months before his term ends, despite allegations from community members that there was unpermitted construction work to add a rental unit onto the property, raises red flags and serious concerns to me. I urge you to contact the mayor and commissioners if you, too, are concerned about this rushed consideration for Commissioner Weaver’s personal benefit.”
Weaver announced last fall he is not running for re-election and will leave office by April.
Brodeur told the Voice on Wednesday that he included a photo of the wrong home intentionally because he didn’t want to provide an image of a fellow elected official’s house. He said the photo he used is similar to the look of Weaver’s home.
“It’s up to the city,” he said. “I’m just raising the concern … a sitting commissioner doing this two months before he’s out of office looks a little weird.”
Brodeur said concerns were brought to him by constituents in his district, which covers Seminole County and a small piece of north central Orange County that includes Winter Park.
Jason Brodeur
The Republican also involved himself in a city debate last year when he advocated against Winter Park’s ban on gas-powered leaf blowers and threatened to take away the ability of cities statewide to create such bans if Winter Park commissioners did not put a referendum on the matter to voters this year. That question will now appear on the March ballot.
Weaver, a Democrat who was a leading proponent of creating the ban because of the noise and health and environmental impacts of the gas-powered machines, is one of the commission’s most vocal environmentalists.
Longtime planning director Jeff Briggs, who is set to officially retire this month, said owners can voluntarily apply to add their homes to Winter Park’s historic register, which includes some 400 properties. The homes must be at least 50 years old and include distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction or architecture. Structures can also be added if they are associated with historic events or people.
The Historic Preservation Board recommended approval of Weaver’s application last month after a staff report made the case for adding the home and noting that it’s common for those like it, especially on a lake, to be demolished.
“When one sees many other homes of similar mid-century modern architectural styling in a neighborhood, then the misconception is that such is
not worthy of a historic preservation status,” said the report. “This home is of mid-century modern architectural styling. Many of these low-sloped roof, one-story homes from the 1950s are what the City routinely sees for tear-downs and rebuilds. Especially in lakefront locations. What this historic designation will do is to maintain the scale and look of the original homes built in this neighborhood.”
Owners of homes on the historic register are allowed a special perk of renting out garage apartments or, in Weaver’s case, a detached “cottage” for a minimum of 30 days. Such rentals are not otherwise permitted in the city.
Weaver said he rented out the cottage previously until 2018 when he learned it was against city code and before he took public office.
He denied any wrongdoing related to permits for work he did on the unit and said the structure already contained plumbing for a toilet and a sink as well as electric when he used the space as a workshop before his neighborhood was annexed into the city in 2004.
The cottage is used today at no charge by traveling artists who are in town for the opera or other events, he said. Weaver told the Voice he did not plan to rent the unit for money even if the home is added to the historic register. He plans to bring his application forward again later this year when he is no longer in public office.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Jan 6, 2025 | City Commission, Election, Historic Preservation, News, Uncategorized
Winter Park Playhouse, a commissioner's home and gas leaf blower ban top first agenda of 2025
Commissioners are slated to move forward on the purchase of the Playhouse building as Blue Bamboo seeks to move ahead with renovations at the old library. Changes to historic preservation rules as well as a designation of a commissioner’s home on the local register also up for consideration
Jan. 6, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Winter Park commissioners will return to the dais on Wednesday for the first time in the new year with an agenda that also highlights some of the issues that are likely to remain front and center through the first half of 2025.
Let’s dive right in:
The arts scene
After a long period of uncertainty about its future, the Winter Park Playhouse appears on a solid path to expanding in the same place patrons have come to love the community theater.
Commissioners will take a vote on the contract to purchase the building, part of a deal use Orange County tourist tax dollars for the acquisition and renovations that would allow the playhouse to stay put. The nonprofit theater was unable to purchase the building on its own and risked losing its stage if the land was bought and redeveloped by another owner.
The city considered multiple options, with some commissioners even angling to help the theater construct a new building in Seven Oaks Park, but ultimately settled on applying for a Tourist Development Tax grant. The county awarded the city $8 million in the fall to move forward on the project.
The city will purchase the building at 711 N. Orange Ave. for $3.8 million following a 60-day inspection period if the contract is approved. The remainder of the grant along with $2 million to be raised by the playhouse will go toward expanding seating capacity by 50% and other upgrades.
According to a staff memorandum posted with the City Commission agenda, the purchase would not impose any immediate costs to the city because it intends to enter a lease with the Playhouse that says the theater is financially responsible for all upkeep. But with the city as the owner of the land, it’s likely that the property will become exempt from taxes that fund city and county services such as roads, parks and schools — an estimated loss of about $15,000 each year to the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency.
At the same time, Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts is moving forward on its plans to renovate the old library, which it’s leasing from the city.
A rendering shows the proposed entrance for the new Blue Bamboo, which plans to repurpose the old library. (Courtesy of Blue Bamboo)
Executive Director Chris Cortez said the project is in the second round of permitting revisions and he hopes to start construction work soon. He is targeting opening the first floor of the building as a venue space during the first quarter of this year. Aside from adding stages and seating and making the bathrooms accessible to people who use wheelchairs, his team is looking at other changes such as converting the former book store into a space for records and retail similar to the Blue Bamboo’s old lobby.
“We love the original design,” Cortez said. “We aren’t proposing very many changes to the building structure at all.”
Historic Preservation
It’s unusual for city commissioners to bring business before their own board, but that will happen Wednesday when Todd Weaver asks fellow commissioners to add his home on Lake Bell to the city’s Register of Historic Places.
Weaver said he’s been contemplating historic designation for the mid-century modern home west of U.S. 17-92 for some time and decided to take action before longtime Planning Director Jeff Briggs retires this month.
Critics have asserted that Weaver has flouted city rules by adding on to the home without proper permits. But Weaver disputes those claims, noting that his neighborhood wasn’t annexed by the city until 2004 and the work he did was permitted by Orange County.
The home includes a 515-square-foot detached space that Weaver calls a “cottage.” He said it started out as a shed and was used as his shop for a time before he made changes to convert it into a living space.
Before he knew it was against city code, he rented out the cottage. But Weaver said he hasn’t done so since 2018 when he learned short-term rentals were not permitted by Winter Park.
He said he now offers the space for free to artists who are coming through town to perform with the opera or philharmonic.
A historic designation would allow Weaver to rent out the cottage for a minimum of 30 days at a time. Owners of historic homes are granted that perk to add value to properties that they have agreed not to demolish and rebuild at a larger footprint.
But Weaver says he doesn’t intend to take advantage of that provision.
“I don’t have any plans of renting it out now,” he said, but will allow the arts community to continue to use the space.
The Historic Preservation Board recommended last month that the home be added to the register.
“Many of these low-sloped roof, one-story homes from the 1950s are what the city routinely sees for tear-downs and rebuilds,” read the staff report. “Especially in lakefront locations. What this historic designation will do is to maintain the scale and look of the original homes built in this neighborhood.”
Commissioners will also consider new procedures and penalties when it comes to unauthorized construction or demolitions of historic properties. The changes are in response to recent violations in historic neighborhoods.
Under the proposed new rules, the ordinance would add a review process of construction plans after the initial approval. The code will also clarify that any authorized alterations or demolitions must be replaced by architectural styling from the era represented in the neighborhood, often from the 1920s to the 1940s.
In addition, if a structure is demolished without authorization, the city can revoke setback variances previously granted on the property in exchange for preservation. The new code also says property owners can propose financial compensation to the city as a way of retaining setback variances.
March elections
So far, the two City Commission seats up for grabs this year, have attracted just one candidate each. Without opposition, those candidates will be automatically elected and there will be no need for poll workers, ballot counting or any of the other related Election Day infrastructure.
As a result, commissioners will vote on Wednesday whether to convert the referendum on gas-powered leaf blowers to a mail-only ballot. The question before voters — if the city should keep and begin enforcing its ban on the lawn tools that generate frequent noise complaints — is the only other item on the March 11 ballot aside from the commission seats.
Commissioners gave initial approval in December to a mail ballot if no other candidates qualify to run for commissioner by the deadline at noon on Jan. 21.
So far Kris Cruzada, the incumbent, has filed to run again for Seat 3. Warren Lindsey, a criminal defense attorney, filed to run for Seat 4 after incumbent Todd Weaver opted not to run again.
The board is required to vote on the change a second time and will also consider revised wording intended to clarify the ballot question.
Up for discussion
Commissioners are also set to approve their own meeting schedule for the first quarter, including a series of discussion-only workshops through March. The topics of those meetings help illustrate the board’s upcoming priorities:
Jan. 23: The concepts for a Park Avenue refresh project
Feb. 13: A debate about the process and criteria, if any, the city should consider when awarding grants to local nonprofits
Feb. 27: Changes to the city’s election code
March 13: The group’s first discussion about the 2026 budget
March 27: The city’s street sweeping policy
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
by Beth Kassab | Dec 5, 2024 | City Commission, Historic Preservation, Library, News, Uncategorized
New Public Art Collection map reveals hidden treasures
The project catalogs Winter Park’s vast collection, which includes every “Best of Show” piece from the annual Sidewalk Art Festival
Dec. 5, 2024
By Beth Kassab
For the first time, the city’s collection of more than 90 pieces of art is searchable through a detailed catalog that provides photos, descriptions and an interactive map.
The new database, which is the handiwork of the Public Art Advisory Board and the city’s communications staff, provides the most comprehensive and publicly accessible ways of finding and viewing — in-person or online — Clyde Butcher’s photography, Albin Polasek’s sculptures and dozens more artists who create everything from jewelry and tapestry to watercolors and woodwork.
This photograph called “Ochopee” by Clyde Butcher taken in the Florida Everglades is part of the city’s public collection.
“The advisory board has been working on this for about a year,” said Craig O’Neil, the board’s liaison and assistant director of communications.
O’Neil said he couldn’t venture a guess as to the dollar value of the city’s collection, but that it would be an interesting figure to track down.
A number of pieces are undoubtedly valuable. For example, the public collection includes five sculptures by Polasek, whose former Lake Osceola home is now a museum, and whose work has sold at auction for tens of thousands of dollars.
A little less than a decade ago, city leaders decided to dub Winter Park the “City of Arts & Culture” and lean in to its identity as the place recognized for sidewalk art festivals, at least six museums, historic homes and a liberal arts college known for its music and theater programs.
“Mother Crying Over the World” is a sculpture by Albin Polasek in the city’s collection.
That effort also includes the formation of the Arts & Culture Alliance, which aims to market Winter Park as an arts destination.
O’Neil said the hope is that more people will utilize the map and catalog to take more notice of the art in public spaces such as local parks, City Hall (where the current “Best in Show” winner is displayed) and the library and events center. Most of the former “Best in Show” winners dating back to 1969 are housed in the library.
The city is actively accepting donations to its collection. And there are more public acquisitions in the works.
Leaders are planning to put out a call to artists for works to be installed at Seven Oaks Park, which is under construction. The Public Art Advisory Board would lead that process.
Last year the City Commission unanimously approved a plan to dedicate 10% of any increase in the Unassigned General Fund each year to the board, it’s first-ever dedicated funding source. That’s the same formula the city uses to devote money to the acquisition of park land, a plan that has raised about $1 million since it went into place in 2003 at an average of more than $50,000 a year, according to city estimates at the time of the approval.
You can search the collection catalog and map here.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
To comment or read comments from others, click here →
Recent Comments