Hidden Spaces, Forgotten Places in the Athens of Florida
Article for Reflections, Internship
8 April 2006
I moved to the Orlando area in 2002, in order to attend the University of Central Florida. Randomly one day, one of my friends decided that he wanted me to see the town that he had grown up near, DeLand. I figured, “why not? Seems like a decent way to spend an afternoon.” Little did I know that this unexpected day trip would spark a love affair with DeLand, “The Athens of Florida,” and with a little park particularly.
If you walk along Woodlawn Boulevard in DeLand, you’d be struck by the beauty that surrounds you. Not only does downtown DeLand feel like the stereo-typical downtown that one always sees in old movies or sitcoms from the fifties, but it also has a sense of natural beauty to it. We can thank the founders of DeLand for that, as they had the tremendous foresight to design wide streets and line them with water oaks and various flowering trees.[1] In addition, in 1886, citizens were allowed 50 cents off their taxes for each oak tree they planted that lived for one year.[2] So one could say that city beautification has been a major thing in DeLand since its inception.
Antique shops and little restaurants line Woodlawn as well, and if you turn down Indiana Avenue, you might notice a small, white sign with black fading letters that reads “Centennial Square Park.” It looks interesting enough, and a quick glance down the snaking alley could capture the attention of some. It certainly captured mine. The alley that one glimpses only slightly runs behind the businesses lining the west side of North Woodlawn Boulevard, ending at Rich Avenue. The park isn’t just a straight alley, however. A portion of the park is a pavilion-type set up, with benches circling the perimeter.
It looks like it used to be gorgeous. It looks like it used to be a neat little hidden area, a good place to have lunch on a day with nice weather, or a place to stop when shopping down town, just for a little rest. As Ronald Williamson wrote in a recent Daytona Beach News article, “the park has charming nooks, iron balconies and ivy walls, but they’re somewhat offset by sectors of slight disgust. Like smelly garbage containers in the walkway. Like layers of pigeon droppings. And black 50-gallon grease drums.”[3] The park has also had to deal with a squatter of sorts. Two large dumpsters now sit in the center of Centennial Square, reeking and leaking.
How could one consider this area charming? How is it possible to form an attachment to a city that I did not grow up in, simply because of a small, ill-used former park? I’m not entirely sure. Maybe I, like the 1976 Deland Area Chamber of Commerce, saw potential in the space. All I know is that it hooked itself onto my subconscious, daring me to forget about it.
A few months later, a course I was taking at the University of Central Florida required a research project about a local public space, be it a park, a building, or a community. Centennial Square reared its charming head. Over the span of the next few months, not only did I learn how much actual research is involved in history, I also began to realize how frustrating it could be to care about something when no one else did. The only clue I had regarding the little alley was the dedication plaque hanging by the entrance. No date of dedication was listed, though it did detail those who contributed to the formation of the park. I had two choices with how to proceed: visit the West Volusia Historical Society or the library. I chose to try the historical society first.
The West Volusia Historical Society contains a wealth of information. I spoke to a variety of people who were able to tell me more about the founding of DeLand and various portions of the city that I had previously thought possible. However, on the subject of Centennial Square, the only response I received was fairly disappointing. I was told that a variety of festivals had been held there, along with concerts and art shows, but no further information was available. I, with the help of an incredibly friendly volunteer, searched through photographs and file folders, but could find nothing of substantial use. I then turned my attention to the library.
Because the name of the park was Centennial Square, I assumed that the park had been either built, dedicated, or planned to coincide with the nation’s bicentennial and the city of DeLand’s centennial. Thankfully, this assumption turned out to be correct. Armed with quarters and heavy duty reading glasses, I wandered up to the local history section of the DeLand Public Library and requested all of the microfilm for the DeLand Sun News for 1976.
Apparently, not many people walk in off the street and request an entire year of microfilm. After receiving a few quizzical looks, I settled in and started searching for any trace of Centennial Square Park. After the first hour or so, I took to scanning for what was being referred to as the “Alley Project,” skipping the incredibly interesting advertisements for the local grocery stores and small businesses. Four hours later, I had made it up to May and had a stack of copies waiting to be read. I returned the following weekend to finish up the year.
Most of the information I was able to find about the planning, building and dedication of this little “Alley Project” came from the DeLand Sun News. I found out who those names on the plaque were, including DeLand’s oldest living (at the time) homesteader, Mrs. Sarah Hargreaves Brown, who donated a bench to the park. Other names listed were members of the Downtown Development Committee of the DeLand Area Chamber of Commerce, various local businesses and a few residents. I found out how much the Chamber of Commerce was pushing the project and how the owners of the shops facing Woodlawn Boulevard fought against the park. I also found out how long it took for the park to go from the initial planning stages to the actual dedication ceremony.
Centennial Square was dedicated in 1976, on December 6th, about a month and a half after it was already supposed to be open, and around three years after the initial proposal. The dedication ceremony included awards for prominent residents of DeLand as well as speeches by the mayor, Don Page, and the president of Chamber of Commerce, Michael Chertok. Chertok stated in his speech, “let this project be a tribute to the past and used in the future by young and old to recall their heritage.”[4] While this statement may not have come to pass for most of the citizens of DeLand, Centennial Square Park not only ignited an interest in me to learn about the origins of the park, but it also about the city that created it. I now understand why DeLand is called the Athens of Florida; in regards to sheer beauty and welcoming spaces, nothing can beat it.
[1] Editorial, DeLand Sun News Archives, available at DeLand Public Library on Microfilm, 24 January 1976.
[2]Tinker Graphics and Promotions, Virtual Tour: The History of DeLand, DeLand: 2004, available from < http://www.deland.org/tour/history_report.htm >.
[3]Ronald Williamson, Daytona Beach News, “From the County Seat: DeLand Alleys Lead to History. Legal Battles,” 17 June 2000, available online through the Daytona Beach News archives < http://www.news-journalonline.com/search/ >.
[4]Otto Allen, DeLand Sun News (DeLand), 6 December 1976, “City’s ‘Centennial Square’ Springs to Life.”
All contents copyright Elizabeth Tibbert 2006.