"We ask for our guests, residents and businesses' patience as we 'fluff our feathers — something beautiful is coming.'"
Clarissa Howard, Winter Park's communications director and project manager for the Park Avenue Refresh, said that in February, when crews were just getting started on the north end of the avenue. Eight months later, the north end is getting its finishing work. The stretch most closely tied to Park Avenue's identity, the blocks facing Central Park between Garfield and New England, is next. The current target puts construction there in January 2027. That makes this fall's art festival, holiday lights and parade the last events on those blocks before the work begins. It also makes the last stretch of streetscape from the 1996 to 1999 restoration, the last time the avenue got an update this large.
What the north end got
Phase 1 covers Webster Avenue to Garfield Avenue. Block-by-block work started at Swoope and moved south toward Garfield. The city's August 24 update said the last Phase 1 block closure was underway. The September 9 update described the project as adding "final touches." It did not call Phase 1 finished.
If you have walked those blocks lately, here is what is new:
- Smart-hub light poles. Phase 1 includes 110 custom poles built for LED lighting, Wi-Fi routers, banner arms, hanging baskets and irrigation, with room for future technology upgrades.
- Planter pots that double as bollards. The new decorative pots are reinforced to separate vehicles from pedestrian areas. Seasonal plantings started the week of September 14.
- Rebuilt brick planter beds. They have new stone wall caps and are planted with Liriope and other seasonal landscaping.
- A bump-out at Canton and Park with bollards, one of the intersection safety treatments in the scope.
- Mostly underground work. New conduit for electrical, low-voltage, fiber and irrigation lines, plus repairs to broken sidewalks and curbs.
Some things are staying the same. The city's current scope calls for repairing sidewalks and rebuilding planters. It does not call for replacing the avenue's street pavers. The Community Redevelopment Agency approved $2.5 million for Phase 1 in August 2025, and all three phases are projected to cost $8.5 million.
The next stretch is the busy one
Phase 2 runs from Garfield south to New England, alongside Central Park. Phase 3 continues from New England to Fairbanks. In February, the City Commission voted 5–0 to approve a $240,250 design contract with Stringfellow Planning & Design for Phase 2. That vote covered design. It did not approve construction money.
Phase 1 ran through quieter blocks. Phase 2 is different. The east side of the avenue is dense with restaurants and shops, including Briarpatch, Prato, Tabla Indian Restaurant and Lululemon. Central Park runs the full length of the west side. The segment also takes in two major intersections, Morse Boulevard and New England Avenue, and Howard said each one has features that need their own solutions. Having the park on one side helps. Work there won't get in the way of shopping or dining on the west side of the street.
The concept shown to the city in June gives a sense of what the Central Park blocks could look like a year from now. It includes about 11 curb bulb-outs, roughly 70 planter pots at intersections, around 130 bollards between raised planters, wall caps on about 30 beds, eight handrails, four new trees mixing crape myrtles and oaks, and about 38 new light poles. The concept also shows a Central Park and Lincoln entry feature and a bus-stop building. These are conceptual quantities, not a final construction plan.
The calendar between now and January
The June presentation included a draft timeline. Put next to the downtown events calendar, it shows how close this fall's events come to the start of construction. Dates marked draft are on the city's schedule but have not been authorized yet.
- October 28. City leaders are scheduled to vote on the Phase 2 construction budget, according to the draft.
- November 2 through January 22. Fabrication of the Phase 2 lighting is scheduled for this window, according to the draft.
- November 14 and 15. The free Winter Park Autumn Art Festival takes over Central Park along Park Avenue with Florida artists, live music, children's art activities, food vendors and a beer garden.
- December 4. Winter on the Avenue fills Central Park and Park Avenue with holiday lights, music and free activities.
- December 5. The Winter Park Christmas Parade runs from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.
- First week of December. The city expects to return to its paused downtown parking garage proposal. That discussion was held until after the November election.
- January 25. Phase 2 construction begins, according to the draft. The draft runs it through September 24.
So every event on this fall's downtown calendar happens on the Phase 2 blocks before the work starts. The city has not announced any construction pause for festivals or holidays. When asked about events during Phase 2, Howard said the city "will work with event organizers on the type of construction that will be occurring during the event time and how best to accommodate any areas that are within a construction zone." The Sidewalk Art Festival is the event she named.
What a block closure looks like from behind the counter
Phase 1 showed how the process works. Construction closes adjacent parking and one traffic lane, one or two blocks at a time, while pedestrian access to businesses stays open. Temporary parking was added on Morse Boulevard between New York and Virginia avenues. The city expected each block closure to last about four weeks and planned some of the stormwater work for nights.
Winter Park Voice reported in May that George Paul, owner of George's Cafe, said business was down by two-thirds during construction. He also said barriers and torn-up sidewalks felt hazardous to older customers. A Park Avenue District leader acknowledged the temporary impact on businesses. Paul asked for more night and weekend work. Howard has said the Phase 2 blocks will take even closer communication with merchants and careful setup of construction zones so every storefront keeps a walkway to its door. That means a Phase 2 block closure will look like Phase 1 did, with the restaurants open and the parking spaces out front temporarily gone.
The storefronts moved faster than the sidewalks
The streetscape work has taken nearly a year so far. The tenant changes this year came quicker. Tuni, a Park Avenue boutique for 40 years, said in June that it had about 30 days to leave after its landlord chose a national retailer for the space. In August, Lilly Pulitzer opened at 301 S. Park Avenue, the corner of Park and New England. That corner sits at the southern edge of the Phase 2 zone.
The brand has been on the avenue before. It used to operate at 114-118 N. Park Avenue, which Brandy Melville took over earlier this year. Tuni is still in business. It is running a temporary pop-up at 143 W. Fairbanks Avenue in the former Miller's Hardware building while it decides on a permanent home.
Garp & Fuss closed temporarily after a fire damaged its Park Avenue restaurant. In July, the owners said they planned repairs and a renovation, but they gave no reopening date. No later reopening announcement has surfaced, so check before you plan a night around it.
One block west, at 533 W. New England Avenue in Hannibal Square, The Reverie is aiming to open later this year. It's an American brasserie from two-time James Beard Award-nominated chef Brandon McGlamery and the Foundry Group, in the space formerly occupied by Chez Vincent. Chez Vincent served traditional French cuisine in Hannibal Square for nearly three decades. The restaurant has not announced an exact opening date. Its Instagram account, @thereverie_wp, is where updates are posted.
The next fixed date is October 28. That is when the draft schedule puts the Phase 2 construction budget in front of city leaders, and the result will show whether the January start for the Central Park blocks holds.
Questions about how the Park Avenue Refresh or the new storefront mix might affect a home sale or purchase near downtown Winter Park? Omar Cotto keeps up with the city's project updates and can talk you through what the next year of construction might mean for your plans. Let's Connect.
