Longwood city leaders are considering moving city hall out of the historic downtown area to make room for new businesses. It’s part of an ongoing effort to revitalize the downtown area.
- Longwood considering moving city hall out of downtown
- City says the building is standing in the way of helping downtown
- Longwood may move city hall to police station area
Most of the people who visit Scott and Christine Brown’s art store in downtown Longwood don’t drive there. They’re walking in from somewhere else.
“Because people don’t like to go, 'I’m just going to go to this store and then I’m going to get in my car and go to another store,'” said Scott Brown.
Since opening up shop last October, the Browns have noticed customers wanting more.
“They often come in and ask, ‘is there another place to go?’ They want to walk around and shop,” said Brown.
Longwood city leaders are trying to deliver on that.
They are now focusing on how to make Longwood’s historic downtown thrive. But city hall stands in the way.
It stands right in the middle of some prime real estate, and unlike new businesses that could go in its place, city hall generates no tax revenue.
“It would be interesting to see what would go in its place -- a restaurant or more retail shopping, that would be great,” said Brown.
Brown would also like the city to do something about Ronald Reagan Boulevard. He says the cars and trucks that go past his store front make for a noisy and unsafe situation for customers trying to get into his art store.
“We love to keep our doors wide open so people are welcomed in, but it gets so noisy you can’t even talk to a customer when they come in,” said Brown.
The city says Seminole County controls Ronald Reagan Boulevard. But they’d like to get the authority to make changes to the road.
Longwood leaders say they haven’t decided on a new location for city hall if they move it, but one possible location could be where the city’s police station currently stands.