EATONVILLE, Fla. — Orange County commissioners approved the funding on Monday, and town leaders say it will help bring the historic town’s story to a bigger audience.
The Town of Eatonville is getting $80 million from Orange County’s tourist development tax, money leaders say will help the historic town preserve and share its history.
Orange County commissioners voted 6-1 on Monday to approve a spending plan that funds projects across the county, financed by the tax on hotel stays and short-term rentals. Two of the approved projects are in Eatonville, which Black residents incorporated in 1887 and is known as one of the oldest Black towns in the country.
The largest is $60 million for the Eatonville Museum of Culture & History, sponsored by Dr. Phillips Charities. It will be built on the Hungerford property, once the site of a school for Black children.
Dr. Candice Finley, founder and executive director of Esteem Learning Inc., sits on the Dr. Phillips Eatonville Initiative Advisory Committee. She said Dr. Phillips Charities has put the community first.
“this is the first time in a while that we’ve had community-led economic development,” Finley said.
The other $20 million goes to the Eatonville Heritage Tourism District, a project of the town’s Community Redevelopment Agency. Mayor Ruthie Critton said the project includes a major restoration of Club Eaton, the legendary entertainment venue, and highlights other historic sites, including the Mosley House, the Thomas House, and St. Lawrence A.M.E. Church.
Critton, a fifth-generation resident, said she wants the town’s main corridor to look the way it once did.
“filled with businesses, filled with shops and eateries, and reasons for people to walk and stop and talk and commune with one another. Just bringing it back to life,” she said.
The mayor said the county’s current forecast shows the town receiving its first payment in fiscal year 2028. The museum’s funding is expected about a year sooner, but she said the town doesn’t know when construction on the museum will begin.
Finley said the town has dealt with challenges before.
“We’ve been here for 100 plus years. We have faced adversity, and as you see, we’re still here,” Finley said.
Commissioners also approved $350 million to expand the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, $52.5 million for a parking garage at Camping World Stadium, $46 million for a University of Central Florida track and soccer facility, and $25 million for a children’s museum in Winter Garden, among other projects.
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