Orlando\u2019s Harry P. Leu Gardens has exploded in popularity, tripling its visitation since the mid-1990s and bringing people from around the world to see its famed rose garden and collections of camellias and azaleas.<\/p>\n
Since early last year, its leadership has been planning a major renovation to the garden, which they say will help it accommodate its growth and allow it to remain a gem for decades to come.<\/p>\n
But elements of the project have concerned neighbors and a city commissioner, who fear it strays from the park\u2019s purpose as a botanical garden, transforming it\u00a0into a commercial space.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think the city belongs in the restaurant business,\u201d said Merrie Vandendriessche, whose lakefront home has a view of the garden.<\/p>\n
Early plans, which are expected to cost between $40 million and $50 million if they come to fruition, include 500 parking spaces, a children\u2019s garden, a performance pavilion, and a new welcome center with \u2014perhaps most controversially \u2014 lakefront dining.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TOS-l-leu-gardens-expansion-011.jpg\")
The visitor center, which was built in 1995, is being considered for an upgrade at Leu Gardens on March 5, 2026. The City of Orlando and Leu Gardens leadership are working on a new master plan that could include a new visitor center, garden upgrades and parking. (Patrick Connolly\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n
Leu Gardens, on the west edge of Corrine Drive, covers 50 acres on the shore of Lake Rowena. It was originally donated to the city in 1961 to be preserved in perpetuity as a botanical garden. It now has 15,500 botanical specimens and 3,551 species \u2014 including 800 varieties of edible plants, 300 species of palm, 50 species of bamboo and one of the nation\u2019s largest collections of camellia. It also has a variety of themed gardens highlighting tropical plants, roses and butterflies.<\/p>\n
The master planning process began last January after visitation doubled to 300,000 annually over the past decade, straining the existing visitors\u2019 services and its aging infrastructure. A draft of the conceptual plan cites a 2024 parking study that determined the garden needed to vastly increase its parking from the current 218 spaces to 500.<\/p>\n
Major events at the gardens include free admission days, the Jazz and Blues Festival, Dazzling Nights and this weekend\u2019s Annual Plant Sale. All draw overflow crowds, forcing people to park in surrounding neighborhoods and the already congested Corinne Drive.<\/p>\n
Leu Gardens executive director Jennifer D\u2019hollander said the city has committed about $28.5 million toward the renovation effort, with Leu Gardens covering the balance through grants, donations and sponsorships. The gardens had a community meeting about the plan in October and D\u2019hollander said there would be more public input before it moves forward.<\/p>\n
Building a pavilion would move events such as weddings, outdoor concerts and movies from the lawn to a structure built to host them, she said, keeping them away from more sensitive garden areas. The plan also intends to invest in education and make nature more accessible to youth by creating a children\u2019s garden with a space for play and hands-on learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a space where kids can climb over logs and roll down a grassy hill,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Neighbors said they had little issue with that part of the property\u2019s mission. But D\u2019hollander also envisioned a caf\u00e9 that would be open during regular operating hours \u2014 and perhaps open later on certain days to accommodate its signature events.<\/p>\n
Plans call for demolishing the existing welcome center, which currently has a Foxtail Coffee and Kelly\u2019s Ice Cream counter, shifting the new building closer to Lake Rowena, and altering its shape.<\/p>\n
The new center is envisioned to feature \u201clakeside dining, curated shopping, immersive exhibits, an outdoor performance area,\u201d as well as space for weddings and other events.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s too early to say exactly what that would be, but we are looking at the early success we\u2019ve had with Foxtail on site,\u201d D\u2019hollander said. \u201cWe know our visitors want more opportunities to sit and enjoy the gardens and stay longer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Area residents worried the envisioned restaurant could be come a full-service establishment, serving diners well into the night,\u00a0and that the pavilion would bring more traffic and noise to their neighborhood. It would also directly compete with popular eateries in nearby Audubon Park and Mills 50.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the noise is concerning, and the traffic,\u201d said Vandendriessche. \u201cI just think that we really need to preserve green space. We don\u2019t need another event space. We have plenty of event spaces in the city \u2014 we\u2019re Orlando.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heather Godwin, who lives nearby, said neighbors need more clarity about the plan. She said she\u2019d be less concerned if the restaurant were a small deli meant to serve people visiting the gardens, rather a magnet meant to draw in diners. Neighbors say they were told the caf\u00e9 could seat 150 people.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it closed at 5, it wouldn\u2019t be a problem,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve just had this really conflicting and contradictory information.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TOS-l-leu-gardens-expansion-010.jpg\")
The Idea Garden could be the future site of a children\u2019s garden at Leu Gardens on March 5, 2026. The City of Orlando and Leu Gardens leadership are considering a new master plan that could include a new visitor center, garden upgrades , garden upgrades and parking. (Patrick Connolly\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n
City Commissioner Roger Chapin shares their gripes. After meeting with D\u2019hollander earlier this year, he wrote a letter to her stating his belief that a renovation could further the garden\u2019s mission and shouldn\u2019t stray from its nature-focused goals.<\/p>\n
Opening a full-service restaurant in a city-backed facility would also create unfair advantages for the operator compared to somebody running a similar establishment nearby, he said. That could include reduced rent or capital costs, as well as benefits from events at the park and marketing associated with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo boil it down, [my concern] is the over-commercialization of Leu Gardens,\u201d Chapin said in an interview. \u201cIf there are 500 cars that show up on a daily basis, I don\u2019t want 400 of them showing up for a restaurant, because then all we\u2019ve done is built a restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\n
D\u2019hollander stressed the conceptual plan was still an ongoing process.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want this to be something that the community wants,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re not trying to create another major tourist attraction. But we\u2019re trying to provide the infrastructure that this beautiful, wonderful cultural asset needs so that it continues for another 65 years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orlando\u2019s Harry P. Leu Gardens has exploded in popularity, tripling its visitation since the mid-1990s and bringing people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[558,1563,28,114,266,115,1335,139,141,140,109,1316],"class_list":["post-191376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-business","tag-environment","tag-florida","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-social","tag-tourism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}