Orange County is considering a mega-park in Horizon West, the fast-growing community near Walt Disney World, that could feature an outdoor amphitheater for major concerts, botanical gardens and an aquatics center.
“Think of it like New York’s Central Park Orange County-style,” said Orange County Commissioner Betsy VanderLey, whose district spans the county’s booming southwestern sector, including the villages that make up Horizon West.
VanderLey discussed ideas for the 220-acre parcel earlier this month in a public meeting with Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, who described the property as having potential to be “one of our crown jewels.”
The commissioner’s ambitious ideas are the latest concepts proposed for the park property, part of which is used in the cooperative water-reuse project known as Conserv II, which helps recharge Florida’s primary drinking water source, the Floridan aquifer.
