Welcome to Monday Morning in Orlando
The calendar states today is MARCH 2nd. I don’t believe it since Christmas was, like, last week. In other news, we have a little bat hanging out with us on our wall outside. Since I know zero about bats, I had to dig in to find out what the deal is because he hasn’t moved. We had some cold days and apparently he’s in a state called torpor.
In today’s issue: 👇
- One Woolly Mammoth Foot
- Ava Never Sleeps
- M’ama Napoli
- ….and much more
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Let’s dive in!
- Philip
P.S. Want some hawt community sourced foodie recommendations? Check out the Orlando Signal Restaurant Guide, right here.
ORLANDO REWIND ⏪
117 Years, Three Freezes, and One Woolly Mammoth Foot
In 1909, the South Lake Apopka Citrus Growers Association built a massive packing plant on Tildenville School Road in Winter Garden. For decades, the 52,000-square-foot complex helped make West Orange County the busiest citrus shipping hub on the planet.
Two railroads hauled the orange gold north. A water tower crowned it all. Life was juicy.
Then the 1980s showed up uninvited. Three killer freezes destroyed local citrus down to the roots, and by the early 1990s, the plant went dark. Sad trombone.
But the building refused to disappear. In 2018, Gary Hasson purchased the site for $2.1 million through Crown Property Holdings and rebranded it the Old Packing House.
His vision: a food hall, retail market, co-working offices, and (yes, really) a Natural History Museum featuring a Megalodon jaw and woolly mammoth bones.
After a COVID-era pause, Winter Garden unanimously re-approved the Old Packing House plan in January 2026, with a target opening of summer 2026.
The calzones and the fossils are almost here.
🚨 Want an Old Packing House deep-dive? Check out my expanded version, right here.
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THE SQUEEZE 🍊
Orlando's Vacant Lots Have a New Job: Becoming Homes
More than 300 perfectly good lots are just sitting around in some of Orlando's most storied neighborhoods, doing absolutely nothing. The city has finally had enough.
Launched last Friday, the Orlando Unlocked: Open Door Program takes aim at vacant land in the Downtown and Orange Blossom Trail Community Redevelopment Areas within Parramore.
Mayor Buddy Dyer's initiative is built around Orlando's "missing middle," the teachers, nurses, and first responders who keep the city humming but can't quite afford to plant roots in it.
Builders get fee rebates; buyers get up to $55,000 in down payment assistance. Consider the math officially changed.
🔥 Get all the details about the Open Door Program, right here.
I-4 Express’ 4th Birthday Numbers Are Pretty Sweet
Buckle up, Central Florida. Four years and 70 million trips into the I-4 Express experiment, and things are looking good.
Weekday trips averaged 65,400 last year, and the toll lanes have raked in over $115 million in revenue between fiscal years 2022 and 2025.
The best part? Even the toll-avoiders are winning, pocketing five or more minutes per trip, zipping along 12 miles per hour faster than 2019, and enjoying a 33% drop in lane-blocking crashes.
However, locals who survived years of jackhammers and detours aren't exactly thrilled about paying for the privilege now.
FDOT, meanwhile, is taking the party to Polk, Osceola, Seminole, and Volusia counties.
(Dig deeper into Central Florida's most love-hate highway with Jerry Hume, right here)
Still Answering the Call: Firehouse 3 Turns 100
A crew of firefighters planted their flag in College Park a century ago and, spoiler alert, never left. They called themselves "The Knights of College Park," and honestly, the nickname has aged better than most things from 1926.
Orlando Fire Chief Jason Revoldt recently joined current and retired department members at the Randall R. Tuten Orlando Fire Museum, the station's original home, to throw a well-deserved party for Firehouse 3's 100th birthday.
Built during a population boom that launched Orlando from 9,000 residents to over 27,000 in a single decade, these knights are still very much suiting up.
Ava Never Sleeps as Winter Garden Eyes AI for 911
Winter Garden commissioners are about to decide whether an AI named Ava gets a seat in the city's 911 call center, and honestly, she sounds pretty qualified for the job.
Short for Automated Virtual Agent, Ava is essentially a tireless call screener who never needs a coffee break. She handles the non-emergency stuff, think loose dogs and busted water mains, routes them where they need to go, and keeps the lines free for real emergencies.
If a call starts getting serious, she hands it off to a live dispatcher without missing a beat.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office hired Ava on August 1st and hasn't looked back, reporting faster response times and happier dispatchers ever since.
The proposed Winter Garden contract would run three years at $55,000 annually.
(Get the full scoop on Winter Garden's AI-powered 911 plans with Mark Lehman, right here)
💼 This Week’s Curated Jobs
Sourced from the Orlando Signal Job Board!
🔍 Internal Auditor II - Finance & Operations Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) | Orlando (Hybrid)
Play detective at Florida's second-largest municipal utility, hunting down risks and inefficiencies while keeping the lights on for Central Florida, CIA/CPA preferred, Sherlock Holmes energy required.
💰 $77K-$96.2K/year | 👉 Learn More & Apply
💻 Programmer Analyst - $1,000 Sign-On Bonus Orange County Government | Orlando
Get paid to teach computers to chat with citizens, build AI chatbots using ChatGPT and Claude APIs while making government services actually convenient.
💰 $31.30-$40.70/hour + $1K bonus | 👉 Learn More & Apply
🏗️ Sales & Marketing Representative (Bilingual) Wolfpack Construction LLC | Orlando
Run with the pack as the face of a Top 20 Home Depot contractor, network your way across Orlando, close roofing deals, and howl all the way to the bank with uncapped commissions.
💰 $50K-$150K/year (base + commission) | 👉 Learn More & Apply
🎨 Activities Director Excellence Assisted Living Facility | Orlando
Turn every day into a celebration for seniors who've earned the fun, plan bingo tournaments, holiday parties, and field trips that make retirement actually feel like the good life.
💰 $18-$20/hour | 👉 Learn More & Apply
Tap/click here for lots more opportunities. Over 100 added last week!
✈️ Orlando’s best flight deal - Neon lights and desert warmth edition
Early April is when Vegas actually makes sense. Pool season just kicked off, the desert's perfect for Red Rock hikes, and the food scene is legitimately insane. People sleep on daytime Vegas, which is a mistake. Grab breakfast at 2pm, catch a show you'd never see anywhere else, maybe win fifty bucks. Or don't. Either way, it's Vegas.
Orlando (MCO) → Las Vegas (LAS) for 114 bucks*, round-trip Friday through Monday in early April. See the deal.
*Price shown above is accurate as of the time this newsletter was sent.
TASTY NEWS 🧑🍳
Orlando Area Eateries Coming & Going
1️⃣ NOW OPEN: Prairie House Coffee Co - Two Sisters, One Perfect Cup
Sisters Jade Dinsdale and Alexa Maisonet traded the Canadian prairies of Manitoba for Central Florida, and lucky for us, they brought their grandmother's farmhouse coffee rituals with them. Their second Prairie House Coffee Co. (Insta) just landed in College Park: beans roasted on site, everything made from scratch. Limited hours, zero apologies, all vibes.
2️⃣ COMING SOON: Sabai Thai Street Food - Bangkok Street Eats Hit Orlando
Orlando is getting a taste of authentic, generations-old Thai cooking when Sabai Thai Street Food (Insta) opens this month. The casual spot serves family recipes passed down through decades, including an amazing noodle soup you reportedly can't find anywhere else in the city, and handmade Thai sausage rooted in multi-generational tradition.
#ORLANDOSIGNAL 📸
Early morning stroll, wildlife encounters
📷 via @orlandosignal |📍Lake Nona
Tag @orlandosignal to get your photo featured in the newsletter!
FOODIE FIND, FORK YEAH! 🤩
M’ama Napoli Italian Bakery & Deli
📍965 S Orlando Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789. Map to this location.
Forget your passport. Naples is officially in Winter Park. Since June 2024, M'ama Napoli Italian Bakery & Deli (Insta) has served up handmade pizzas with perfectly blistered crusts, hearty sandwiches on freshly baked bread, and espresso so good it should be illegal.
Grab a cannoli while you're at it.
Oh, and the shelves are packed with imported Italian groceries, because some of us cook at home too. Benvenuti!
👉 Check out their food art, right here 👈
Source: M’ama Napoli Italian Bakery & Deli
MORE PULP! 😎
Weekday things to check out
💼 Orlando Small Business Expo 2026
📅 Tuesday, March 3rd | 10am-5pm
📍 Rosen Plaza Hotel
Orlando's largest B2B trade show featuring expert-led workshops, high-impact networking, cutting-edge exhibitor hall, and essential resources to scale your business.
👉 Level Up
🎨 Beyond Glass: The Paintings of Louis Comfort Tiffany
📅 Opens Tuesday, March 3rd
📍 The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art
Exhibition showcasing Tiffany's paintings and continuous exploration of color and light throughout his artistic career.
👉 Artistic Origins
📚 OMA Book Club: The Art Spy
📅 Tuesday, March 3rd | 2-3:30pm
📍 Orlando Museum of Art
Discussion of Michelle Young's "The Art Spy" detailing Rose Valland's WWII resistance work against Nazi art looting in Paris.
👉 Wartime Courage
🍔 Tasty Takeover in The Milk District
📅 Tuesdays | 6:30-10pm
📍 The Milk District – 2424 E Robinson St
Orlando's premier weekly food truck block party featuring diverse culinary offerings behind the shops and bars.
👉 Dine Alfresco
🎭 Hell's Kitchen
📅 Tuesday, March 3rd - Sunday, March 8th | Various times
📍 Walt Disney Theater, Dr. Phillips Center
Award-winning Broadway musical inspired by Alicia Keys featuring her greatest hits and new songs about finding yourself and your purpose.
👉 Dreams Begin
🎨 Artist Talk: Saúl Hernández-Vargas
📅 Tuesday, March 3rd | 6-7pm
📍 Rollins Museum of Art (in-person and virtual)
Thomas P. Johnson Distinguished Visiting Artist discusses works from "Souvenir" exhibition addressing displacement, heritage, and place.
👉 Contemporary Vision
🛍️ Luminary Market
📅 Wednesday, March 4th | 5:30-9pm
📍 Luminary Green Park
Monthly market with 20-25 vendors followed by outdoor screening of "Barbie" with LED visuals at 7pm.
👉 Shop & Watch
🎭 Steel Magnolias
📅 Through Sunday, March 22nd
📍 The Athens Theatre Company, DeLand
Heartfelt comedy-drama about friendship and strength at Truvy's beauty salon where women laugh, cry, and carry each other through life.
👉 Southern Sisterhood
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THANKS!
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Thanks for reading! I’ll see you again on Thursday’s weekend fun issue.
My Best,
Philip - Publisher, Orlando Signal
