- March 4, 2026
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Going down Avalon Road by the Tildenville community just before West Colonial Drive, you could see the historic West Orange Country Club arch standing tall.
The arch had stood there for at least 100 years and served as a landmark to the opening to the land west of the arch. But Laura Coar, the city of Winter Garden’s Park and Recreation director, knew one car accident could destroy it.
So with the help of Youngblood Building Movers — a Sanford-based company that has been moving historical buildings and structures since 1945 — city staff and Youngblood workers have been working to relocate the aging arch into Tucker Ranch to be a centerpiece and main entrance to the Tucker Ranch Holistic Health, Wellness, Teaching Farm and Family Activity Center.
Once the relocation of the arch is complete, the city of Winter Garden will be one step closer to opening the 25.6-acre addition to Tucker Ranch Park and Nature Preserve.
For at least a century, the West Orange Country Club arch has served as a welcome gate to a place bringing joy, laughter, sometimes peace and other times frustration depending on how the game of golf proceeded.
It welcomed thousands of people to West Orange Country Club at 100 Avalon Road in Winter Garden.
But before the club opened in 1967 as a 71-par, 18-hole course Lloyd Clifton designed, the club offered a broader lifestyle approach for guests. The club originally opened in 1915 and became known for its lavish, high-society parties and as a social hub for West Orange’s elite.
After hurricane rains caused major flooding from John’s Lake, which is west of the property, that destroyed the original facility in 1924, the land’s future was unknown. But that changed in 1941, when the 209-acre parcel became Tucker Ranch, a cattle ranch.
The city purchased the property in 2011, and in 2013, plans for a nature park and preserve began formulating. The city celebrated the opening of Tucker Ranch Park and Nature Preserve in 2018, and now, the city is looking forward to opening the Tucker Ranch Holistic Health, Wellness, Teaching Farm and Family Activity Center in early fall. The city broke ground on the addition in 2024.
But no matter what the property was used for, the archway remained and will continue to do so.
“People were afraid we weren’t going to move it or it would get knocked down,” Coar said of the arch. “It’s really amazing how long it’s lasted.”
Relocating the arch has been no easy feat, but Tom Youngblood, the owner of Youngblood Building Movers, said he and his family have moved hundreds of historical buildings and structures throughout the southeastern United States, including the Historic Daytona Coquina Arch to multi-story historic homes.
Youngblood said his team put in large beams to act as a counterweight on the bottom of the arch and big bolts to bolster together and clamp the arch around the columns. Then using chains under the original footers, they were able to lift the arch out of the ground. The arch slowly was moved to its new location. They had equipment set up like a tricycle so when one rear wheel climbed on a little knoll of dirt, causing the front to tilt, the arch wouldn’t twist, crack or break. They are using a hydraulic, unified jacking system to keep the archway low and on the same four corners so it doesn’t twist or change. Once in place, concrete will be poured around it, to secure it.
“You have to be delicate on how you load, because if it goes on uneven earth, it could tilt,” Youngblood said. “Any time you move something 100 years old, there’s always little chances something could happen, so we just tried to safeguard everything.”
Walking down the cream-colored pathways already in place at the wellness park, Coar could see the vision for Tucker Ranch’s addition coming to fruition.
She took photos of the arch on its beams knowing it would safely be solidified into the ground once again and stand tall hopefully for at least another century.
She admired the work of the construction crew as they painted a trellis that will feature the same petrea vine that turns blue as the vine that covers Centennial Plaza in downtown Winter Garden.
She listened to the sounds of saws and hammers as crew members continued to construct the 5,000-square-foot conference center for programming and classes.
Despite the hustle and bustle of construction, Coar knew in at least seven months, construction sounds would be replaced with a sense of peace and tranquility as community members come to the wellness park to address any facet of their mental, physical or emotional wellness.
Coar said there are organizations such as 4Roots Farm, which focuses on food and growing, and organizations that solely focus on mental health or physical health. Tucker Ranch’s health and wellness park will be a holistic approach, she said.
“It basically addresses everything that is health related, whether it’s your mental health, your physical health, eating right or just having time for yourself,” Coar said. “Everyone will probably use the park a little differently. Some people will come here purely to go and see the cooking demonstration. Some will come here for conferences. We set up the park so that if you just want to come and walk around, it’s a nice place to come and walk. … You can go to a yoga class. You can do meditation. We made sure we included places that if you want to go by yourself and read a book, you can but yet it’s not isolated.”
Coar said the crews are working from north to south on the addition.
So far, the pond pavilion, the bridge and trail system that includes exercise nodes and outdoor fitness equipment all are complete.
Despite portions of the project being complete, Coar said nothing will open to the public until the entire project is complete as it will be considered an active construction area.
The West Orange Country Club arch is expected to be in place this week, according to Youngblood.
Looking through the arch, the pathway leads directly to a fireplace between the outdoor kitchen and bathrooms and storage space.
To the north of the arch will be a gazebo, perfect for relaxing, school groups to meet or other activities.
To the northeast, there is a story circle, which can be used for programming, including school teachers using it as a space to educate students in nature. There also is the pavilion and trail system winding around to exercise nodes and to the bridge.
Moving south, all the buildings are in place, and construction crews are working on the interior. The conference center, which features a glass roof strong enough to sustain hurricanes, will seat 200 to 250 people and will house programs, health conferences and more.
The outdoor kitchen has been built as a place for cooking demonstrations and food-to-table events. It will not be used for catering. Coar said the space was purposefully made to be small so it would be a more intimate and interactive learning and gathering space.
A greenhouse also is being constructed.
There will be botanical gardens, an orchard as well as a site dedicated to serve as a modified farm with edible plants and blueberry bushes. There will be plants that will be changed out seasonally. Chefs will be able to use some of what they find in the park as ingredients when conducting cooking demonstrations or during food-to-table events. There also will be an old-Florida garden.
Eventually, Coar said there will be interpretive signage for specific aspects so different messages can be communicated such as a plant ID or if it’s a Florida-friendly plant.
“It’s going to have all kinds of things for everybody,” Coar said. “You can see there’s tons of paths, and you can imagine, when the bushes get bigger, you can walk and wander through. It’s meant to be both active and passive spaces.”
The city’s Parks and Recreation Department will manage the schedule of classes, events and other offerings at the wellness park and work with partners and providers on offering a variety of activities community members will be able to access and register through the rec track system.
“We’re not handing it over to anybody, because it’s important to do what our residents want, provide what our residents want,” Coar said.
The city has partnerships with various health and wellness organizations including Healthy West Orange, AdventHealth, Orlando Health, Shepherd’s Hope, American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, UCP of Central Florida, Community Health Centers and Mental Health Association of Central Florida.
“The intention of everything here is to be friendly to the broader community,” Coar said. “It’s going to be an amazing environment. Basically no one has done exactly this. They’ve done bits and pieces, but no one’s ever looked at in a holistic way. … It will be wonderful.”
