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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998 02 27 Orlando Sentinel Spotlight on Winter Springs SPECIAL SECTION The Orlando Sentinel FEBRUARY 27, 1998 r spotlight on thecommunitiesof ovic Wmter 40 .sm r- a The old meets new Longtime residents watch as Oviedo's small- town charm attracts newcomers by the thou- sands. — Page 2 ti Growth hot spots With new neighborhoods springing up all over, Oviedo leaders face challenge of maintaining services, quality of life. — Page 4 W Trail to blaze the way Business owners and leaders in Winter Springs and Oviedo look forward to benefits the Cross 'w Seminole Trail will bring. �s — Page 8 A new downtown The biggest thing on Winter Springs' horizon is the plan for the city's new `town center' along Tuskawilla Road. — Page 25 Winter Springs: Spotlight. on the community This is a listing o/ county and city parks in and around Oviedo and Win- ter Springs. For more information, call the Seminole County parks depart- ment at (407) 788-0405 or your city parks and recreation department. Oviedo, Winter Springs, East Seminole Boston Hill Park: 777 S. Central Ave., Oviedo, (407) 977-6081; Play- grouhd, court sports, athletic field, picnicking and grill. Cameron Wight Park: 5 miles east of U.S. Highway 17-92 on State Road 46 at Lake Jesup Bridge, Geneva; (407) 788-0405. Picnicking, boat ramp, fishing. Open daylight hours. Central Winds Park: State Road 434 about a mile east of State Road 419; (407) 327-7110; Amphitheater, nature trail, picnic areas and pavil- ions, playground, athletic fields, court sports. Daylight hours (ex- tended hours during youth league seasons). Eastside YMCA, 1750 W. Broadway St., Suite 104, 32765; (407) 359- 9622: Youth memberships only, $90 a year. Before- and after-school care, children's programs, youth and adult sports leagues, ail offered at various schools, churches and parks. Service areas: east Seminole and east Orange counties. Friendship Park: 200 W Broadway St., Oviedo (407) 977-6081; Play- ground. Kingsbridge Park: Carolyn Drive, Oviedo, (407) 977-6081; Play- ground, walking path, multipurpose field. lake Jesup Park: 4 miles south 'of State Road 46 at end of Sanford Avenue, Sanford; (407) 788-0405. Picnicking, fishing. Open daylight hours. Lake Mills Park: Lake Mills Road off State Road 419, about a mile north of the Seminole-Orange County line, Chuluota. 8 a.m. to sunset. Mullet Lake Park: East of U.S. High- way 17-92 on State Road 46 on Mullet Lake Road, Geneva; (407) 788-0405. Picnicking, camping, fishing. Open daylight hours. Oviedo Sports Complex, 1251 E. Broadway St., Oviedo (407) 977- 6081; Athletic fields, playground. Riverside Park: 1600 Lockwood Bou- levard, Oviedo, (407) 977-6081; ,~ Pool, multipurpose room, multipur• pose field, court sports, picnicking, pavilion and band shell.' Round Lake Park: 891 E. Broadway St., Ovideo, (407) 977-6081; Play- ground, court sports, picnicking. Sweetwater Park: 201 E. Magnolia St., Oviedo, (407) 977-6081); Play- ground, court sports. Soldier's Creek Park: State Road 419 a mile east of U.S. Highway 17- 92. Boating and fishing. Open day- light hours. A town center -from scratch O Winter Springs plans to develop a traditional downtown with shops and restaurants. By Will Wellolns OF THE SENTINEL STAFF WINTER SPRINGS -This bedroom community has rarely been a destination for anyone other than its residents. But that may change. Winter Springs leaders are working on plans to develop a traditional town center on land mostly north of State Road 434 along Tuskawilla Road. "We want to be a magnet," said Mayor Paul Partyka. The city has hired consult- ants led by a South Miami de- sign firm to draw them a pic- ture of the town center. Earlier this month, planners with Dover, Kohl & Partners spent a week in Winter Springs work- ing- nearly around the clock studying and talking to people about the 230 acres north of State Road 434. Lead planner Victor Dover warned interested residents We'll soon be of~ering hometown The Citizens Bank of Oviedo is now under construction inside the Oviedo Marketplace Mall. Soon, among national and international stores you'll find the best in hometown banking. We're designing our new branch.. to provide you the financial solutions you need, along with technologies to make your banking easier and faster than ever before. We're also installing three automated teller machines inside the mall for your cash needs while shopping, dining or watching a movie. Our Oviedo Marketplace Mall office will be staffed by several of the friendly faces you've come to know and trust, Member so drop by to visit us in our newest banking home! FDIC ing the land and starting from scratch. He cautioned both land owners and city officials that they must build around the nat- ural beauty of the property. For example, early drawings call for saving a forest of hemlocks as a park. -Even though the idea will look good on paper, the city still must convince landowners that building a traditional town cen- ter will make money. Robert Gibbs, a retail analyst who works with mall developers, is part of the consulting team. Gibbs said the town center can support new shops and res- taurants if it is built correctly. A Winter Springs town cen- ter can succeed even with the opening of the nearby Oviedo Marketplace mall, Gibbs said. People like to shop in old-fash "• Toned open-air centers. Stores that used to be found only in malls are now moving outside mammoth centers, he added. One of the landowners, Mi- chael Schrimsher, is watching the town center planning care- fully. "I'm always skeptical when government says it wants to help," Schrimsher said. ,oviE~o HOMETOWN BANK Main Office Alafaya Oflce Oviedo 156 Geneva Dr. 10 Alafaya Woods Marketplace Mall 365-6611 Blvd. 365-6611 365-2212 Opening soon! that building a new downtown is an ambitious goal. "This is a steep mountain to climb, creating a town center where there is none," he said. Dover will make a final pre- sentation of the proposed town center to the City Commission on March 23. The idea behind the town center is to bring shopping, townhouses, offices and excit- ing public spaces to a mostly vacant area of the city. The new town center, to be built during the next decade or more, would give Winter Springs a downtown area that could stretch from Central Winds Park to just beyond Tus- kawilla Road. A McDonald's now sits at what could become the focal point of the city. Dover said the city is going to have to change the rules to build its dream downtown. A town center will require very intense development around park land or a town square. "Density doesn't have to be bad," Dover said. "Good design is the key." Even though a proposed town center would be compact, Dover and other consultants are not recommending bulldoz- W rn rn rn r- N A .o a~ LL a~ ~~, O 'D 0 a~ m N amidst a world of stores! Spotlight on the community Hall of haircuts. Barber Richard Grogan owns Richard's Barber Shop, which used to be the Winter Springs City Hall. .Friendly nod to past is ust barbershop's style C The little shop in the center of town has a history -and is an education, barbers say. By Linda Humphrey SENTINEL CORRESPONDENT When customers come in fora hair- cut at Richard's Barber and Style Shop in Winter Springs, they sit where the mayor, the police 'chief and the fire chief once sat. But the offi- cials weren't there to have a little taken off the sides. The shop on State Road 434 was Winter Springs' first City Hall, right in the middle of town. Shop owner Ri- chard- Grogan bought the prop- erty in 1995. City records show Gro- orfully decorated the small shop, where friendliness abounds. Grogan and his only employee, Bill Mansfield, agree there is more to bar- bering than knowing how to use scis- sors and a comb. "Once you get to know the person, the haircut is secondary," Grogan said. The two have worked together for eight years. A barber for 36 years, Mansfield came Florida from George- town; near Washington, D.C. "Talking to people, .that's the. best part," Mans- field said. "People are my educators. I don't have a lot of schooling, but if I want to know anything, I wait until a guy gets in the chair, and then I ask him." Mansfield said he has had some interesting people in his chair over the years, some who were well- known. But .even those people were pretty ordinary F.... 47. ~. Fn.., mti Oviedo and Winter Springs: Spotlight on the c Conversation included with shave and haircut BARBER from 22 ding. The next time he comes in, you ask how the daughter is." Grogan said he often calls his barber chair "the library" because of the wealth of knowledge he has gleaned from his clients. Former Winter Springs City Commissioner Art Hoff- man has been a client of Gro- gan's since 1984. "I first met Richard when he was working in a shop in Casselberry. We didn't have a barbershop in Winter Springs at that time and Mayor John Torcaso took me to Richard for a haircut. We encouraged him to come to the city and open a shop. "He's very good at hair- cutting and conversation. What you talk about in the chair is the same kind of con- versation you have with Ri- chard as a friend," Hoffman said. Grogan is content with the small, down-home appeal his shop offers. He recently added a 5-foot wooden Indian to the many collectibles he has obtained over the years. "I love collecting things. When people tell me they are going on a vacation, I ask them to bring me something back for the shop. I now have a terra cotta soldier from Chi- na, llamas from Peru, ahand- carved church from Russia and wooden golf sticks from Scotland," he said. Many times the business becomes a "family affair," with Grogan's wife, Mary, and his daughters Shannon, 12, and Michelle, 14, pitching in to spruce up. `It's just a great business to be in. I have made tremen- dous friends over the years," he said. The way Grogan sees it, he offers more than haircuts. "We love what we do and expect to keep at it. I feel that I will always have abar- ber pole in front of my busi- ness." More stores, servic OVIEDO from 4 .are sopt "The' He said the growing number of residents will they loo easily support the additional retail stores and portantl professional services that have opened, such as munitie hair salons, gift shops and florists. said. Judy D'Aniello, a member of the D'Aniello She team with Prudential Florida Realty, said that commu~ Oviedo, with its roots in the farming commupity, They ar has retained its old-fashioned flavor. Yet resi- their ch dents have access to facilities such as the Uni- is a grog versity of Central Flor- ida at the southern end of the city, the Center for Health and They have threatened tl Wellness on Red Bug Lake Road and the strike if we even mentic Oviedo Center for back t0 Miami. They COI Health on Broadway. Right in the middle _ ~ of the residential ex- plosion on Lockwood Boulevard, Seminole Community College plans to open its Oviedo "ThE campus, just 31/z miles from UCF. even m College President Ann McGee said the Oviedo here," t center comes in direct response to the rapid pop- $e~f-C ulation' growth and economic expansion in east- ern Seminole County. Wha "Our plan is to be a good neighbor and along- City term partner with the people of Oviedo," she swell tc said. velopm M011'le SWeet home Willifor shop a> Oviedo is a magnet for well-informed people, "Ovi D'Aniello said. Today, people who are relocating city," h Custom Built ~~H/GH QUAL/TY" Multimedia Compu~ SERIES 1100 100mhz AMD Svstem • Microsoft Windows 95 • 14" SVGA Color Monitor, TTX .28dp • 16 Megabytes 10 nanosecond SDRAM • 2.1 Gigabyte Ultra IDE Hard Drive • Mini Tower Case • 104 Key Win95 Keytronics Keyboard • Trident 3D 2MB Video Card • Logitech Serial Mouse • 33.6K Baud U.S. Robotics Fax/Modem • 24X CD-ROM Drive • 16 Bit Sound Card • Stereo Amplified Speakers • Groliers Encydopedia and other multimedia graphics and sound software. ~1097-0o J SERIES 1233 233mhz Intel Pentium Svstem 3001 • Microsoft Windows 95 • Micro= • 14" SVGA Color Monitor, TTX .28dp d SDRAM ~ • • 1 T' S1 32 Me • 32 Megabytes 10 nanosecon • 32 Gigabyte Ultra IDE Harci Drive • 4.3 Gi • Mini Tower Case • Mediu • 104 Key Win95 Keytronics Keyboard • 104 K • Diamond Stealth 64-3D 2MB Video Card ~ • Diamc • Logitech Serial Mouse • Logue • 33.6K Baud U.S. Robotics Fax/Modem • 33.6K • 24X Creative Labs CD-ROM Drive • 24X C • 64 Bit AWE Sound Card ~' • • 64 Brt Stereo • Stereo Amplified Speakers • Groliers Encydopedia and other • Grolie mu~imedia graphics and sound software. muttimedi 149900. Before you buy front the guy with the lower price...consider this: The bitterness of-poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low cost is forgotten. .~ Cellular Phones starting at local s~ ,~ ~ * Ali this Af- nrder o PHOTOS BY DENNIS WALL/THE ORLANDO SENTINEL ~: ~ ~ r ~ ~~ Spotlight on the community :.,' ~ ~, ~r~. av. s prey Mana er's S ecial ! g P Spring Blosso $ rrangement Only 10.39 _ ; Flowerin Bushes o ~~~ ~ ~5i /o.:..Off ~ ~! Most Present Coupon,_Facpires 315-98 _ .~ r. J ' FLORAL SUPPLY MART f ~ TH_E HOME DE.GOR. STORE A leader in quality silk .plants, flowers, trees decorative accessories & unique floral designs. '' Sanford 241 Towne Center Blvd. I-4 to Exit 51•(407) 328-8878 Located at Gateway Plaza • Open Mon -Sat 10-9 Sun 12-6 ~ CUSTOM ORDERS AVAILABLE • WE DELIVER We Cater To The Trade ~ ~ ~ The Tuckers. Nadine and Steve Tucker in front of their home. `We're very happy to be here,' Steve Tucker says. Couple love `quick access to everything' ^ Steve and Nadine Tucker looked everywhere for a home before settling on one in Winter Springs. They sayer they made a great decision. Fine European C'uzrine variety of European and InternationaCdishes Special'Gunch ~Vtenu c~ ChiCdren Entree s ... m m 0 w ,,. 0 m m T n m -~ w n a a Come and join us in a French StyCe Side ~i/aCkCafe - Bistro Decor featuring a cozy atmosp~iere with great 1~esserts Espresso's and Capuccino `s Every Day a Special'~Drrh of the day Dine in or lake Out Lunck from ~ 11 am - 4 pm . S28S ~d Bug Lake 1~gad ~Drrcner from 4 pm -10 pm ti(JinterSprings (Next to 16000 videos) 696 - 4544 By Linda S. Humphrey SENTINEL CORRESPONDENT Steve and Nadine Tucker said it felt as if they looked at every house on the market between Oviedo and Apopka be- fore deciding to settle in Winter Springs. After learning. 15 months ago they were being relocated from St. Peters- burg to Central Florida by Steve's em- ployer, Florida Power Corp., the Tuckers began their search. They had certain qualifications in mind: "We wanted to be in a centrally locat- ed area, easily accessible to work but not too close to the major attractions," said Steve Tucker. "No matter where we went, we kept migrating to Winter Springs and this house in Tuscawilla," he said. Nadine Tucker said the real estate agent worked very closely -and pa- tiently -with them. "He must have shown us this house at least eight times," she said. She said she was attracted to the ar- ea because of the convenient shopping, schools and medical facilities near the home and the luxury of being able to take a long walk, meet friendly neigh- bors and er>,joy the lack of congestion on the residential streets. "There are a large number of young families with children. This is a great place for families. Everyone can' ride bikes without worrying about traffic. The nature trails are wonderful," Na- dine Tucker said. The Tuckers said they er>tijoy being able to see a professional basketball game or attend a live theater perform- ance in downtown Orlando, then hop on the Central Florida GreeneWay and be home in minutes. "That certainly is a great thing, having such quick access tc everything," he said. Having moved to St. Petersburg in 1978 from Birmingham, Ala., the Tuck• ers said they have er>,joyed each area in which they have lived during their 3i years of married life. Winter Springs is a nice place to be at this time in them lives, they said. "Steve's 80-year-old mother is living with us, and the warm weather is gooc for her," Nadine Tucker said. The cou plc's two children, Stephanie, 28, anc Scott, 23, visit often, she added. Displayed on the walls throughou' their home are pictures of Scott wearin€ the gold medal he won in the 4x100-me ter freestyle relay swimming competi tion at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. "They both like the area we have chosen very much," Steve Tucker said. Nadine Tucker has taken a hiatus from 20 years as an office representa tive in the insurance industry to enjo; her new surroundings and become in volved in outside activities. "I've even had time to join the Wom en's Club. There is a golf course, but we aren't golfers - ,yet. Steve does pla; racquetball in nearby Oviedo," she said As part of his job, Steve is involvec with Leadership Orlando. It has give him a "heads up" on the growth anc changes ahead in his industry as well a: the area in general. "A person needs to be aware o what's happening in the communit; they live in and in the surrounding ci ties. This area is a good place to be righ now, .for work and to live: We're ver; happy to be here," he said. DENNIS WALUTHE ORLANDO SENTINEL Wirit~Springs: Spotlight on the community Growth pushes Tuscawilla to top sales spot O Tree-lined streets, nature trails and good schools rocket home sales in this Winter Springs' community, real estate agents say. By Linda S. Humphrey SENTINEL CORRESPONDENT Newcomers in 1997 chose Tuscawilla 2-to-1 over other neighborhoods in the city, easily making it Winter Springs' hot spot of growth. Kevin Fritz, vice president for com- munications and marketing with the Greater Orlando Association of Realtors, said the group's records indicate more than $21 million generated in the sale of those 120 homes last year. The second-highest was Oak Forest, with 58 home sales. An additional 150 private home sales took place during that same time, said Ruth Rudy, sales manager with Tusca- willa Realty. Rudy said that in her 10 years at this location she has never seen anything like the growth taking place now. "We now have what we call multiple offers all the time. That's when you take an offer on a home and at the same time someone is giving you another," said Rudy, a licensed broker. With the current population estimat- ed at more than 27,000, it is easy to see which areas are growing rapidly, said Thomas Grimms, the city's comprehen- sive planning and zoning coordinator. "There is an explosion of well- planned growth in the entire city, Tusca- willa being one area," he said. The Tuscawilla community encom- passes 3,500 acres within the city limits and includes 27 "villages," Rudy said. "The amenities are numerous. Most of the comments we hear first from pro- spective buyers are about the wide, tree= lined meandering streets and nature trails," she said. Families are attracted to the area for biking, jogging and recreation, as well as the proximity to elementary, middle and high schools. At least four new neighborhoods have sprung up in Tuscawilla in the pass three years, Rudy said, with the final one on the horizon. While the average home sells for $180,000, the new section, which is in the marketing stages, will produce high- er-priced custom homes, Rudy said. "Our final area will be called Wick- low. When that is completed,. that's it as far as developing goes," she said. "It will be a gated community with golf course and creek lots selling from $300,000 to $500,000. There are 48 lots available, 21 of which will be sand- wiched in between the second, third and fourth holes of the course off Northern ,~ ~ Way. Another attraction, Rudy said, is the diversity of the Tuscawilla population. Young families share neighborhoods with single parents and retirees. "It's a wonderful move-around mar- ket," she said. "At first you buy a large home. Years later, you need to downsize, or you start with a smaller home and grow into a larger one. Tuscawilla is a perfect place for that." GULISTAl~i CARPET `QV~ QUALITY CARPET SINCE 1924 Dealer Of The Year p'a~~deo o N~a 8.~:.~ g ~ N har9e `~ PLUSH COORS 1 y~1 0 KE RS "QUITE SIMP41' THE BEST" jI ® ET V~~DATED CARP GULISTAI~I CARPET QUALITY CARPET SINCE 1924 IT'S ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW. 4 ~ ~ D sy. ,,.. or $,.5s ft. Professionally Installed w/Deluxe Pad f CARPET BROKERS of Fla. OPEN 7 DA STR WEEK ,iuiiiai vi. ~ f Hwy. 436. X118 ~ W ,~ m rn rn N f6 7 .~ 0 0 L H T DENNIS WALL/THE ORLANDO SENTINEL Drawing power. Tuscawilla encompasses 3,500 acres within Winter Springs and includes 27 `villages.' The final new neighborhood is on the .horizon.