- February 12, 2025
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The new Horizon West Branch Library will be located at 4657 Hamlin Groves Trail, Winter Garden.
Danielle King, chief branch officer for Orange County Library System, kicked off the event by welcoming attendees.
District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson said she believes the library will create a better quality of life for the local residents in the area.
Steve Powell, director and CEO of Orange County Library System, said libraries are an essential part of a thriving community.
Crockett Bohannon, Orange County Library System Board of Trustees president, said getting to the library groundbreaking has been a wonderful and challenging journey.
Leaders helping to spearhead the Horizon West Library Branch project scooped the first shovels of dirt at the groundbreaking event.
Project construction and development partners stopped to take their own picture with hard hats and shovels.
Members of the Horizon West Happenings team joined project leaders for a quick photo.
Members of the Horizon West Magazine team commemorated the special day with a photo accompanied by District 1 Orange County Commissioner Nicole Wilson, center.
Horizon West Happenings team members Heather Parker, left, Deanna Aboud, Lindsay Turner and Sarah Lemp showed their support for the future library.
Orange County Library System hosted a groundbreaking event for the Horizon West Branch Library Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 4657 Hamlin Groves Trail, Winter Garden.
The planned library, which is set to open in spring 2025, is located past the Horizon West Regional Park entrance.
The library campus will include 11 acres with shared parking, retention ponds, the library building, an outdoor area and space for a future recreation center. The 20,000-square-foot library building with outdoor space will be on 1.1 acres.
Borrelli + Partners, an architecture, planning, landscape and interior firm, created the library design. The Horizon West branch will include a lobby, children’s section, an area for collections, public computers, training rooms, study rooms, a media lab, meeting rooms, outdoor stage, administration area and support space.
The library will have meeting space with flex walls that can accommodate large or small events. There is one large space with about 1,300 square feet and two other rooms that are about 700 square feet each — and these can all be opened to create one 2,700-square-foot room.
The library's design also incorporates natural elements that blend in with the regional park.
The parking area will include a separate equestrian parking area since the regional park will have a number of equestrian trails.
For the latest updates on the Horizon West Library, click here.
To read the Orange Observer's latest report on the library, click here.