Construction begins on Rosenwald community center as former school site becomes Rosenwald Legacy Park

Seminole County has started building a community center on the grounds of the former Rosenwald School in East Altamonte, and the 12-acre property now has a new name: Rosenwald Legacy Park.

County officials and residents gathered at the site, 1096 Merritt St., on Thursday, Oct. 29, for a groundbreaking that also served as the formal unveiling of the park's name, according to the county's project page. The county had asked residents for naming ideas at a community meeting on Sept. 30.

What is being built

The county describes the center as a roughly 6,000-square-foot building with an event hall that can hold up to 200 people, several multipurpose rooms and covered space for gathering outdoors. Its design, which the county says grew out of community input, calls for tall ceilings, large windows and a brick exterior meant to echo the old schoolhouse.

Andrea Wesser-Brawner, the county's chief strategy and innovation officer, told WKMG News 6 that historical writing preserved in concrete at the site will become a cornerstone of the new building, and that keeping the property's historic elements was a priority.

Bentley Architects + Engineers is the designer and Collage Companies is the construction manager, both chosen in February 2025. The county expects the center to be finished in summer 2027.

The park work is happening in phases. Walking paths, pavilions and stormwater work are already finished. A fishing pier, a kayak launch and more stormwater work are under construction alongside the community center, the county said. It plans to work with community partners on programs for the building, including ways to mark the property's history.

The school's history

The East Altamonte Rosenwald School opened in 1931, one of more than 5,000 schools built across the segregated South in a campaign by the philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Washington, the educator, to widen schooling for African American children, according to the county. WKMG reported that the school was desegregated in the 1970s.

The county says it later served as a special education center before closing in 2011.

Seminole County bought the property in 2019. In April 2024, commissioners signed off on a plan calling for removing unsafe buildings, constructing the community center, adding the pier and pavilion and keeping green space for future use; the county says that plan drew on its blueprint for spending federal American Rescue Plan Act money. The old school was demolished about two years ago, WFTV reported.

A neighbor of the property, Toni Anne Violetta, told WKMG she had been looking forward to the project. "I think this area needs it," she said.

Sources

seminolecountyfl.gov

clickorlando.com

wftv.com