EATONVILLE, Fla. – Eatonville town leaders on Tuesday approved a resolution to establish the Eatonville Heritage Tourism District, a move the mayor said would help the town protect historic assets, attract resources and spotlight its identity.
The town council addressed the resolution during a meeting at the Denton Johnson Center. Now that it’s approved, it will create Eatonville’s first Heritage Tourism District.
Eatonville is one of the oldest Black-founded towns in the United States, incorporated in 1887. Town leaders believe heritage tourism could serve as an economic development strategy and bring new resources and revenue to the area.
“Being able to establish that district sets the guidelines that then allows us to fill in the blanks with assets and then hopefully leverage those assets to bring resources and revenue into the town,” Mayor Ruthi Critton said.
The Eatonville Community Redevelopment Agency previously sought $22.5 million from the Tourist Development Tax fund to develop the Eatonville Heritage Tourism District. The TDT task force denied that project.
Two other funding applications remain under consideration. Dr. Phillips Charities has requested $60 million to move forward with development of the Eatonville Museum of Culture and History. The Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community has requested $53 million for a Zora Neale Hurston International Museum of Arts, Heritage and Culture.
Critton said conversations around those projects could help bolster the proposed heritage tourism district.
“Being able to establish that district and being able to leverage resources is where those friends like the TDT come into place even as far up as the National Trust for Historic Preservation,” Critton said. “Having that district and having something tangible there for those resources to see pretty much tells them, hey, there is something there.”
Critton said establishing the district would allow the town to put policies and legislation in place to protect and leverage the assets it wants to showcase. Those include notable and historic places such as Club Eaton, Eaton Walk Food Hall and Zora Square Park.
Although the town’s $22.5 million funding request was denied, Critton said creating the district could show investors that Eatonville is prepared for heritage tourism.
“As the districts and as the assets grow, we would love to partner with other organizations and philanthropic companies and whatnot, foundations to kind of just pour into it,” Critton said. “But just getting started, it’s us. It’s the town of Eatonville.”
The next TDT Citizen Advisory Task Force meeting is set for Wednesday, August 5. Eatonville is scheduled to host a presentation at 12:30 p.m.