Eatonville residents weigh in on plans for museum

EATONVILLE, Fla. — Dr. Phillips Charities is seeking $60 million in Orange County tourist development tax revenue to help develop the Eatonville Museum of Culture and History on the historic Hungerford property.

The request was one of several considered Wednesday by the Tourist Development Tax Citizen Advisory Committee. Dr. Phillips Charities has committed $20 million of its own money to the project and says it will donate the land back to the town after development.

Dr. Phillips Charities said the organization expects the Hungerford property to close by the end of the month.

“We’ve got our planning in place and we’re ready to go,” Kenneth Robinson, president and CEO of Dr. Phillips Charities, said.

Robinson said the plan calls for a campus that includes festival space and a cultural museum. He said the festival space could hold 3,000 people.

“What you see is a campus, a fully activated town,” Robinson said. “You have the festival space in the middle that I said can hold 3,000 people. Up on the top left you have the cultural museum.”

According to Robinson, the project would create 109 permanent jobs and 300 to 400 construction jobs. He said construction would happen in 2029, with the museum opening in 2030.

“We have the property under contract,” Robinson said. “If you have a vision, if you have a plan, if you don’t have money, it’s just a dream.”

Some town leaders have said the project needs more clarity. At an Aug. 4 meeting, Eatonville Council Member Wanda Randolph said better collaboration with the town should have happened earlier.

“If you really want to work with the town and create really good collaboration, I think that request should have already been made,” Randolph said.

Dr. Bahíyyah Maroon, chair of the Eatonville Initiative Advisory Committee, said Wednesday’s community meet and greet at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church was meant to focus on collaboration and show residents the project.

“Residents have been saying for well over a decade that they want and deserve to have an Eatonville Museum of History and Culture that celebrates them, their story,” Maroon said.

Residents at the event shared different visions for the property.

“That’s my vision for Eatonville, another Black Wall Street,” Eatonville resident Tiletha Wells said. “It may be small, but we’re powerful when we come together.”

Eatonville resident Regina Johnson said she wants to see resources that help the community.

“What we really do need here is a hospital for real,” Johnson said. “We need things that will help one another out.”

The final Tourist Development Tax Citizen Advisory Committee meeting is scheduled for Aug. 11.

The Orange County Board of County Commissioners plans to vote later this month on which projects will receive funding.