Lake Eola Orlando's Eclectic Family Room by Kristen Vennum, ASLA Those of us who stroll around Lake Eola Park at lunchtime, enjoy the fireworks celebrations, or see a play at the lakeside amphitheater have a hard time imagining a Lake Eola that was ever anything but magnificent. However, longtime Orlando residents remind us of the history of the park and the long journey undertaken by the community to reclaim this park at the heart of our downtown. What an eclectic mess! Over the many years of Orlando's development, Lake Eola Park was used as a depository for community mementos. Gifts from our sister city, memorials to our sons and daughters who fought in the wars and dedications to community leaders, all these important community heirlooms were installed around the lake. However, the celebration that should take place around such significant community treasures did not happen. The community avoided the park. Vegetation overgrowth provided a perfect cover for crime and every possible activity that a community would wish to discourage could be found on the shores of Lake Eola Park. In 1984 Orlando Mayor Bill Frederick initiated an "adopt a park" program wherein local businesses adopted the various parks throughout Orlando and developed plans for their upgrades. Herbert Halback, Inc. (HHI) along with the Landmark Group adopted Lake Eola Park. What began as a simple master plan for modest improvements caught the imagination of the community and grew into a broad based, collective vision. The community leadership of Orlando made a commitment to reclaim our park and invest in the future of our community. The Family Album The designers of HHI looked closely at what Lake Eola Park had to offer. Should the eclectic collection of mementos be moved in order to make room for a new theme or design? Or, could all these different pieces of Orlando history come together in some coherent fashion? The concept for Lake Eola is not unlike one that you may be very familiar with-your own family room. Over the years, the community had been collecting the pieces of their family album at Lake Eola Park. However, all these separate pieces had not been pulled together, like the boxes of pictures scattered about that really should be organized in a family album for everyone to enjoy. We have all experienced that feeling you get when you walk into someone's family room, that sense of understanding what the family is all about, who they are, what they've done over the years. This is what Lake Eola Park has become to the Orlando community - our family room. Instead of eliminating the memories, we have celebrated them. You'll find along our mile-long shoreline, a Chinese garden, a Confederate memorial, the Battle of the Bulge memorial and statue, plaques, monuments and tombstones recognizing various community leaders and even gifts from international dignitaries and our sister cities, Guilin, China and Urayasu, Japan. You'll find our family album. Stroll Eola The mile long walkway, known as "Stroll Eola", will always be the glue that brings together the eclectic collection of memorabilia that is Lake Eola Park. Paths, walks, decorative bridges, formal promenades, and a boardwalk that extends over the water knit together the family album and provides a place for families to stroll along the shoreline. Few communities are lucky to have a mile of shoreline in their downtown and few celebrate it as grandly as Orlando's Lake Eola Park. The water closely intertwines every experience at the park. Scenic bridges provide a place to feed the swans, large stepping stones extend into the lake and provide an opportunity to interact with the water. At one point, the water is pulled further into the park through a historic fishpond stocked with goldfish. A unique water feature is located in the center of Lake Eola that local residents have fondly named "The Flying Saucer". This historic fountain, which was built in 1952, was completely restored during the park's renovation. Made entirely out of plexiglass, the fountain was originally powered by a hydraulic pump system which has been replaced with a new pump system that is housed within the fountain itself. A computer controls the light and water show to entertain viewers with 5 different 15 minute presentations. The park has come to define what is "Orlando picturesque". That unique combination of water, skyline, grandfather oaks, palm trees, bald cypress and flowering azaleas, brick detailing and most of all-families enjoying the scenery. In the background, "The Flying Saucer" water fountain presents one of its 5, 15-minute water and light presentations. This historic fountain, which was built in 1952 by a Chicago-based Landscape Architect, was completely restored during the park's renovation. Safe at Play Perhaps the most controversial element of the park was the placement of the playground. HHI's designers chose the corner of the park that had always been most plagued by crime to develop a site for the large playground. Although this was a difficult decision for the community, consensus developed that this was actually the best way to ensure that the crime never returned. The parents of the community embraced this corner as "their" part of the park. They came with their children to play and, together, formed a community watch more effective than any previous attempt. HHI specified historic acorn light fixtures on fluted poles that were designed to illuminate even the furthest corners of the park. Many residents have remarked how safe they feel at Lake Eola, especially at night. All elements of the park were designed with Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles. Even the restrooms discourage crime, by eliminating hiding spaces through an open, translucent design. A police substation shares space with an information center in the park. Often, one finds mounted policeman watching over the site, as they share with the community the task of making the area safe for everyone. What the Future Holds Although Lake Eola is not the only factor that has contributed to the renaissance of downtown Orlando, it would be hard to imagine the redevelopment of the surrounding neighborhoods, had the park remained in its past state of disrepair. The community has continually recognized the value of dynamic public spaces and the importance of public places where families are welcome. Developers are now transforming one of Lake Eola's borders, Central Avenue into a booming urban residential area. The success of such projects as Lake Eola Park and Loch Haven Park, home of Orlando's cultural facilities, have brought about a collective community understanding of the value of public open spaces. The community is still moving forward with their commitment to a great parks system as exemplified by current Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood's thirty-year, thirty-million dollar parks initiative. How do we know Lake Eola Park is successful? We know it because we enjoy the park every day. In nearly every image of Orlando's downtown, Lake Eola Park is at the forefront. The park has become a symbol of our community, a celebration of our diversity, heritage and a promise of what the future holds. LASN Residents in Orlando enjoy a noontime stroll along the mile-long shoreline of Lake Eola. For many years, the park used as a depository for community mementos that were received as gifts from Orlando's sister cities in Japan, memorials for war veterans and dedications to community leaders. However, the celebrations that should have taken place in Eola Park never happened because residents avoided the park due to rampant crime. The park's redevelopment by Herbert Halback, Inc., started after Mayor Bill Fredrick initiated the "adopt a park" program in 1984. A unique water feature is located in the center of Lake Eola that local residents have fondly named "The Flying Saucer". This historic fountain, which was built in 1952, was completely restored during the park's renovation. Made entirely out of plexiglass, the fountain was originally powered by a hydraulic pump system which has been replaced with a new pump system that is housed within the fountain itself. A computer controls the light and water show to entertain viewers with 5 different 15 minute presentations. The lighted pagoda, pictured in the forefront, was a gift from Orlando's sister city in China. Since the pagoda is one story, it is actually called a Ping. When the disassembled Ping was shipped from China to Florida, five engineers from China traveled to reassemble the ping in Lake Eola Park.