Winter Park to call library ‘Canopy’ but won’t give it rooftop venue yet
WINTER PARK — City commissioners decided Monday not to build a rooftop venue for the planned massive library and events center — at least not yet — but agreed to name the project “Canopy.”
After an hourlong debate, commissioners voted unanimously to fund the infrastructure needed to add the venue at some later time but agreed they want the addition to be privately funded. They also agreed to fund a raked auditorium, an outdoor amphitheater and a porte-cochere for a collective cost of about $2.6 million.
The proposed name for the massive campus designed by renowned architect David Adjaye is a nod to the natural surroundings of Martin Luther King Jr. Park. Adjaye designed the acclaimed Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., and has worked on most continents.
The name passed on a 3-2 vote, with Commissioners Pete Weldon and Carolyn Cooper dissenting.
Several members of the public spoke in opposition to the name, fearing that the park would be renamed as part of the vote. But commissioners said that was not a consideration.
“I cannot support renaming anything on top of that,” Commissioner Sarah Sprinkel said. “I don’t want to rename the park. It’s the Martin Luther King Jr. Park.”
The name was the product of a Library and Events Center Task Force, which worked with Evolve Design Group Inc. on the branding.
Mayor Steve Leary argued the branding would help sell the campus to potential donors.
“We need a cohesive piece to put out there,” Leary said. “The Canopy is unique to Winter Park. … It’s a word that resonates and an idea that