LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — Crews broke ground Thursday on a controversial new multimillion-dollar wedding pavilion in Tavares.
The giant pavilion will be built over Lake Dora at the end of a pier, but some residents said they don’t like the idea that city government will compete with small businesses.
With a seaplane on cue, Tavares city leaders broke ground on the $3.3 million wedding pavilion and conference center that spans 6,000-square-feet over the water.
“We are creating a destination, a place where you want to be,” said city administrator John Drury.
The new project didn’t come without critics.
“A lot of the people who were concerned owned a hotel, owned a spa or owned a golf course,” Drury said.
Managers at Lake Receptions in Mount Dora didn’t want to sound off on the Tavares project, but other private venues could lose some bookings.
“There’s already other cities and counties that have their own government community centers. And they charge for it also,” said Tavares Mayor Robert Wolfe.
Officials said the plan is to break even with downtown businesses pulling in the profits; wedding guests and conference goers staying in the new lakefront hotels and eating in the restaurants.
Seaplanes are the key, officials said. Honeymooners can be whisked away to the Bahamas right after the ceremony, which is why city leaders say they won’t be stealing away anybody else’s business.
“They’re not doing weddings that are themed, with the ‘Indiana Jones’ sense of adventure with seaplanes. There’s nothing like it,” said Drury.
The pavilion will open in the fall of 2013. The city’s original pavilion was built 100 years ago in the same spot on the lake. It was torn down in the early 1960s.
WFTV
