Nearly eight years after Seminole County bought the former Rosenwald School property in East Altamonte, the long-promised Rosenwald Community Center is nearing construction as the roughly 13-acre redevelopment advances through detailed site-plan review.
The latest plans call for a 10,067-square-foot community center at 1096 Merritt St., considerably larger than the roughly 6,000-square-foot facility commissioners committed to building in 2024. Construction of the center and related site work carries a guaranteed maximum price of $7.4 million.
Cora Snead stood at the sign of the shuttered Rosenwald School in East Altamonte on April 25, 2024. Snead attended the school as a child and went on to teach kindergarten at it for many years before it was closed in 2011. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Rosenwald School served generations of Black students in East Altamonte before later becoming an exceptional-student education center and closing in 2011. Residents then spent years pressing the county to return the property to community use. In 2024, former Rosenwald student and teacher Cora Snead told the Orlando Sentinel, “This has been going on for too long, far too long,” adding, “Give us the community center. That’s what I am asking for; what we all are asking for.”
The school took its name from Julius Rosenwald, the Sears, Roebuck and Company executive and philanthropist who helped finance schools for Black children across the South. Between 1917 and 1932, Rosenwald’s philanthropy supported more than 5,000 schools and related facilities at a time when Black students had severely limited access to public education.
Julius Rosenwald, seen here in 1926, was a Chicago businessman and philanthropist. He started the Rosenwald Fund, which donated millions to educate rural African-American children in the South. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)
County staff have completed an initial review of the 13.04-acre site plan and identified revisions needed before final approval, including landscaping and buffers, parking, lighting, fencing, drainage and fire-safety requirements.
The review marks the latest step in a redevelopment effort that has changed course several times since Seminole County paid the School Board $1.75 million for the property in 2019.
In 2023, the county sought private developers for a much different concept, according to previous GrowthSpotter coverage. Four firms responded to a solicitation that envisioned affordable housing alongside community uses that could include a culinary school, Sheriff’s Office substation, heritage center and history museum. Three former school buildings were then expected to be renovated rather than removed.
That approach was eventually abandoned.
By April 2024, commissioners had agreed to demolish the remaining school buildings and move forward with a new county-built community center, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Preliminary plans at the time called for about 6,000 square feet with two multipurpose rooms, a computer lab, offices, restrooms and storage. Construction was then estimated at roughly $4 million.
The building has since grown to 10,067 square feet under the 100% permit-set documents completed this summer. Those plans include 8,512 square feet of interior space, a 255-square-foot covered entrance and a 1,300-square-foot outdoor patio. Bentley Group is the architect, while Lake Mary-based The Collage Companies is serving as construction manager at risk.
The community center is the last part of a three-phase redevelopment.
Phase 1A added three pavilions and walking paths. Phase 1B extends improvements toward Lake Mobile with a fishing pier, kayak launch, fire-lane access and supporting infrastructure. Phase 2 includes the community center along with parking, roadway access, utilities, landscaping and stormwater improvements.
Those phases bring the projected construction cost to about $9.1 million, including $671,698 for the pavilion work, $929,391 for the lakefront phase and $7.4 million for the community center.
The October site-plan review also shows that design details are still being worked through. County staff requested revisions or additional information involving buffers, landscaping, parking calculations, fencing, drainage, lighting and other site elements. The application identifies Orlando-based DRMP as consultant for the county.
Construction documents call for Phase 2 work to begin this fall, with substantial completion targeted for summer 2027.
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