It’s been the city’s most treasured playground for almost thirty years.  Gilbert Park’s play fort, shaded under large oaks across from Mount Dora’s lighthouse, has been home to countless games of hide-and-seek since its construction in 1990.  

In recent years, the castle-type structure, designed for kids from ages five to twelve, has come under disrepair and now the city is ready to introduce a replacement due to the high cost of maintenance and replacement parts.  

The new playground, recently approved by Mount Dora City Council, will feature a large pirate ship as the focal point with maze-like passageways, swings, role-playing elements, a rope gym and more creative features.  The project is targeted for completion in October in time for the cooler months.

​The new playground will be designed and built by Kompan, a Texas-based company.  The $263,000 price tag will be funded by the Parks Impact Fee fund. Several council members were concerned about beginning a major project before the Parks Master Plan was complete, but in the end felt the park’s safety had to be the priority.

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To fund the $500,000 project the City received a $100,000 grant from the Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program and the balance is funded by the City, including its Recreation Impact Fee funds.   ​

When Byron Faudie and Tim Totten approached the Mount Dora Center for the Arts with an unusual proposal, their reputation as absurdists preceded them.  The pair, known for signature events like Audio Game, Clue! Live Mystery Parties, the Escape Game in a Box, and the Amazing Race for Charity, pitched a temporary miniature golf course in downtown Mount Dora, with all the holes designed by local artists.

 “We both love art and fundraising for non-profits, but we’re terrible golfers,” says Faudie.  “So rather than skip another golf tournament, we decided to create one we’d actually want to play.”

Open play for the inaugural Pop-Up Art Golf course, which will be constructed on the tennis court in Donnelly Park will be Friday, March 9 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.,  Saturday, March 10 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 11 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.    The cost is five dollars per person.   

Totten and Faudie, who together own the game company FunVenture, have already secured 9 holes for the course.  Designs range from a recreation of the new Florida Hospital Waterman Emergency Room, as created by the hospital’s architect and contractor, to a hole created by local tiny-house builder Andrew Bennett.  Artists from Mount Dora High School have submitted a design for a hole that reflects a local landmark, while another artist is busy creating a hole called “The Kitchen Sink.”   
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The Pop-Up Art Golf course is a FunVenture project in close cooperation with the Mount Dora Center for the Arts and the City of Mount Dora Parks & Recreation Department.  For more information or to enter the golf tournament, visit www.funventure.us ,

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Grab some shrimp off the barbie.  Mount Dora’s third annual Seafood Festival takes place in downtown on August 26 and 27.  The festival will extend throughout Edgerton Court and Simpson Cove, as well as waterfront Evans Park.   
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This free lakefront festivalboasts plenty of seafood vendors, crafts, live music, and a pirate party on Friday night, the 25th.

In past years, seafood lovers grazed on fresh conch fritters, lobster, and crab legs after already gobbling up cajun crawfish, paella, shrimp and fresh fish tacos.  This year’s festival-goers can expect the same.    ​Read more