City Owned Event Facilities in Central Florida
The Collage Companies completed a $3.9M expansion and renovation of the Ocoee Lakeshore Center, part of Ocoee Lakefront Park (located on the shores of Starke Lake at 125 North Lakeshore Drive in Ocoee). The project was completed in the fall of 2019 and the city has already confirmed event contracts through 2021. The city is planning a grand re-opening event to be held on Tuesday, August 25th from 6pm to 9pm.
Ocoee’s Lakefront Park is owned and operated by the City of Ocoee and combines the classical old-Florida elements of spacious lakeshore greens and the Withers-Maguire House (which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places) – with the in-demand modern meeting and banquet facilities of the newly updated Ocoee Lakeshore Center. Also part of the Lakefront Park complex is Bill Breeze Field, the city’s largest venue for non-sporting events.
The community center was originally built in 2014, the recent $3.9M expansion was in response to a growing need for versatile and affordable event space to serve the west Orange County community. The existing 8,500 sq. ft. space was expanded to nearly 15,000 sq. ft. which increased the size of the banquet hall and pre-function space. The new Lakeview Room accommodates 125 for banquet seating. The expansion of the space as well as the addition of a bridal suite and a rear porch are all part of the city’s plan to make the space an attractive option for special events and weddings.
Many municipalities use local event centers to generate incremental revenue and to provide a non-hotel option for community events, weddings, and business meetings. Other Central Florida event centers owned by city municipalities include:
- City of Orlando – Camping World Stadium – Collage is part of the Barton Malow Company team working on the $60M renovation
- City of Orlando – The Varsity Club at Camping World Stadium which Collage renovated in 2018
- City of Winter Park – Winter Park Farmer’s Market and Winter Park Country Club
- City of Altamonte Springs – Westmonte Recreation Center which Collage renovated in 2019
Rob Maphis is Vice President of Operations and COO at The Collage Companies, and says of the significance of the project: “The Ocoee Lakeshore Center is a place for the community to connect and to celebrate – aligning perfectly with Collage’s mission to build projects that strengthen the foundation and fabric of our community. We are proud to have partnered with the City of Ocoee to make this project a success.”
About Collage
The Collage Companies is an established integrated services firm with expertise in Design Build, Construction Management and General Contracting Collage has served Florida and the southeast since 1982 from their headquarters in Lake Mary, Florida – and has over $100M worth of construction projects planned for completion by 3Q 2020. Collage pursues community–centric projects with an emphasis in the hospitality, religious, transportation, and parks-and-sports sectors. The Collage Companies was honored as one of the 2018 Florida Companies to Watch as announced by GrowFL for developing valuable products and services, creating quality jobs, enriching communities, and broadening new industries throughout Florida.