The Heritage Center is located in the heart of Winter Park’s historic African-American west- side neighborhood, across the street from the children’s splash park and the Community Pride Mosaic Mural, great restaurants, and boutique shopping on Hannibal Square, and is five blocks from nearby Park Avenue and the Amtrak Station.
Winter Park is home to many cultural attractions, including Crealdé School of Art and Sculpture Garden, Winter Park Public Golf Course, Casa Feliz Historic Home and Museum, Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, Cornell Fine Arts Museum and the Bach Festival Society at Rollins College, Albin Polasek
Museum and Sculpture Gardens, Winter Park Historical Museum and
Farmer’s Market, The Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour, and more.
Other Local Cultural Attractions
The Heritage Center is also minutes from a dozen Black Heritage Trail sites including the Zora Neale Hurston Fine Arts Museum in Eatonville (home of writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston and first incorporated African-American city), the Wells’ Built Museum in Orlando, the historic river city of Sanford, and other inspiring cultural attractions, including Loch Haven Park’s Orlando Museum of Art, The Mennello Museum of American Art, Orlando Repertory Theatre (The REP), the Orlando Science Center, the Lowndes Shakespeare Theater. Also nearby are Harry P. Leu Gardens, which features an interior and exterior extensive public art collection, and several other public art locations.
Accommodations
Visitors to the Hannibal Square Heritage Center receive a special discount on rooms reserved through the Mt. Vernon Best Western Hotel, located three blocks west of the Heritage Center.
Using The Heritage Center Facility
The 3000-sq.- ft. facility accommodates up to 50 people for tours. Ample parking is available across the street. There are two meeting rooms: one with a maximum capacity of 15 and the other accommodating as many as 25 with tables and 40 for theater-style seating.
The small kitchen is designed to accommodate catering, but not cooking; it has a refrigerator,
ice-maker, microwave, coffee makers and coffee and tea dispensers, warming dishes, basic serving trays, but no oven or dishwasher. Beer and wine are allowed inside the facility only.
For availability, please contact Heritage Center Manager, Fairolyn Livingston at flivingston@crealde.org or
(407) 539-2680. (The Heritage Center is not available for weddings.)
For restaurant and catering partners and local tourism information, visit our Resources page.
Workshops and Guided Tours for Groups
Three-Hour Basic Package (for groups of up to 20):
This three-hour package includes a walking tour of the Hannibal Square neighborhood with a community historian, Fairolyn Livingston, and a tour of the Heritage Center and its exhibitions and an interactive workshop with anthropologist Dr. Ron Habin on the subject, "Your Photographs Tell Your Story." Snacks and refreshments will be provided.
Suggested Donation : $600
Planning lead time: 30 days
Children’s Public Art and Heritage Package
To accommodate visiting groups of 25 to 75 students, grades 4 through 8, the Crealdé programming staff can create a customized experience at the Heritage Center. To facilitate the necessary planning and secure the appropriate teaching professionals, Crealdé requires a 60-day lead time. For more information, please e-mail Executive Director Peter Schreyer at pschreyer@crealde.org and reference “Heritage Center Workshop for Children” in the subject line.
Other Options for Group Visits
“What Heritage Means for to Me” Workshop and Field Trip (for group sizes up to 25)
Storytelling with Valada Parker Flewellyn
Valada Parker Flewellyn was the storyteller at the Grand Opening of the “Heritage Center” and continues to be an active part of its programming. She enjoys sharing her love for stories and poems with audiences of all ages. She has been a nationally recognized author/poet/storyteller for over twenty years. She calls her brand of storytelling “Stoetry”, poems that tell a story and stories that are poetic. Her most recent book is entitled: “African Americans of Sanford” a part of the “Images of America” series by Arcadia Publishing. Valada is vice president of the Sanford Historical Society. She is very active in the gathering of oral history in association with the Zora Neale Hurston Institute of Documentary Studies, out of College of Arts & Humanities Deans Office at the University of Central Florida. Valada is also an active volunteer with the “Celery Soup” project, produced by Creative Sanford Incorporated, a non-profit organization that collects stories from residents of Seminole County, Florida to be used in a series of community folk-life performances. For more information on rates or to book Valada
for an event at the Heritage Center, please contact Peter
Schreyer at 407-671-1886.
Hospitality Services
BCMS Hospitality Services specializes in planning and tours for visiting groups. BCMS President and Owner, Barbara Chandler, is a Heritage Center docent and has been involved with the center since its opening in 2007. BCMS services include airport or event-to-Heritage Center transfer, dine-around, golf outing, cultural dance and music, day trips, Winter Park and other local cultural excursions. Fees are based on service selection. For more information visit www.bcmshospitality.com or contact Barbara Chandler at 321-594-3922 or gobcms@aol.com. |
