Downtown Mount Dora Changed Its Streets and Storefronts Before Craft Fair Weekend

Between July and October, downtown Mount Dora began switching three streets to one-way traffic and lost two long-running shops. In the same months, new businesses opened in a converted Segway storefront, a historic house on Highland Street and a second-floor walk-up on Donnelly. The city is fitting more parked cars onto the same narrow blocks, and new businesses are opening in smaller spaces on those blocks. On Saturday, October 24, the 41st Mount Dora Craft Fair puts more than 350 exhibitors on those blocks.

Three streets set to run one way

On August 19 the City of Mount Dora announced the conversion of parts of three downtown streets to one-way traffic. Work was scheduled one street at a time, generally Monday through Thursday.

The city's goal was more parking. It first looked at angled parking downtown, but its engineering review found the streets too narrow for it. The one-way design was what fit. The city says the new pattern improves traffic circulation and emergency vehicle access while "creating additional downtown parking spaces." It ties the change to its Downtown CRA Parking Studies Update and its FY 2025-2030 Strategic Plan. ClickOrlando's August coverage described the project as one that would "maintain 49 parking spaces in downtown." The two descriptions frame the same plan differently. Both point to the same purpose: keeping as many curbside spaces as possible on streets too narrow to angle-park.

The city expected all three streets to be finished in September. It also said each street would reopen in its new direction as soon as its own work was done, and that dates could shift with weather. Posted signs on each block are the final word. Baker, planned to run south from 5th to 3rd, is the change you're most likely to drive into on Craft Fair weekend, because the fair's own directions send drivers to an address on Baker.

Craft Fair weekend is the first full test

The fair runs Saturday, October 24, and Sunday, October 25, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free, according to the Mount Dora Area Chamber's festival listing. Mount Dora Buzz's fair preview reports that organizers say the two days have drawn about 100,000 visitors in past years. The Chamber's listing gives a higher figure, saying the fair attracts more than 200,000. Whichever estimate is right, that crowd will use the streets the city set out to rework for parking.

Here's how the weekend runs for anyone driving in, from Friday on:

1. Friday afternoon, October 23. Downtown parking restrictions begin in the late afternoon so vendors can set up. Move your car before then if you usually park on the street downtown.
2. Saturday and Sunday mornings. The fair's shuttle page names Mount Dora Christian Academy, 301 W. 13th Ave., as the park-and-ride lot. Parking there is $10 per car, collected by MDCA, and Mount Dora Buzz notes that the money goes to school programs. Buzz puts the bus ride at about three minutes.
3. No shuttle from the high school. The official page says no shuttle runs from Mount Dora High School.
4. Closer in. Private paid lots operate near the fair, and the Freebee shuttle is another option. Mount Dora Buzz gives 510 N. Baker Street as the GPS address that gets drivers closest. If you drive the Baker Street blocks near the fair, the city's plan makes Baker southbound between 5th and 3rd Avenues, so follow the posted signs.

Downtown shops and restaurants stay open during fair hours and later, according to Buzz. So the weekend is also a good time to visit the businesses that opened since summer, most of which sit off the main tent rows.

The newest shops are small and off the main rows

Most of this year's openings took small spaces: a back room, an upper floor, a historic house, an appointment-only counter. They're spread through the side streets more than along the busiest block.

Daybreak Yoga Collective and Roots Café, 430 N. Alexander Street. The pair took over the former Segway location, according to Mount Dora Buzz's July report. Daybreak offers hot, warm and cool yoga classes. Roots Café, run by chef Sede Clark, serves smoothies, açaí bowls, cold-pressed juices, grain bowls, specialty toasts and coffee, with indoor seating and shaded outdoor seating. The café is open to the public, not just yoga students. Hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. Founder Mary Beth Wallis told Buzz she wanted a place where people could "care for themselves and build community at the same time."

Flipping Good Finds, 121 N. Highland Street. This vintage and antique shop opened in July in a historic former home. Buzz's August edition placed it in uptown Mount Dora.

Refind, second floor of 440 N. Donnelly Street. A consignment and thrift boutique with women's, men's and kids' clothing, also open since July. Buzz called it a small boutique and headlined it as a consignment shop that "finally opens in downtown."

Magic City Antiques and Jewelry, Renaissance Building. A small ground-floor shop in the space a smoothie business used to hold. It sells jewelry, pipes, watches and figurines, and was open by appointment when Buzz's July edition covered its opening.

Fashionela, Mount Dora Marketplace. A women's apparel and accessories boutique near Dark & Light Cafe, carrying jeans, tops, dresses, handbags and fragrances in what Buzz's October edition called a small space.

An existing business added a new service too. The Butcher's Nook, a downtown lunch spot, began serving a limited Sunday breakfast with three chef-driven dishes: the Jersey Debate, the Glory Box and a rotating special. Breakfast runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Two long-running shops closed

New businesses aren't the only change. Buzz's October edition reported that Lemon Drop Market, the specialty food store it described as sitting on "the hottest block in downtown Mount Dora," closed for good in September. Its owners kept their other Mount Dora store, Love Home Harmony, and their newer Lemon Drop Market in The Villages.

Lee Fusion Art Glass also closed after its owners retired. Buzz noted that over many years the shop moved through three downtown locations.

Those were two established storefronts on central blocks. Most of the openings listed above took smaller spaces on side streets and upper floors. The businesses that closed held central storefronts, and the ones that opened went to smaller spaces a few blocks away.

After the tents come down

The fall calendar continues after the Craft Fair with two events, and two openings still have no announced date:

• Empty Bowls, Friday, October 30, Donnelly Park. The fundraiser benefits Lake Cares Food Pantry and is organized by Yada Yada Pottery. Guests choose a handmade bowl, eat a soup supper and take the bowl home. Event materials also list local soup, live music and a silent auction. Yada Yada Pottery says tickets are on sale and that last year's event sold out. Check the Empty Bowls site for this year's start time and ticket price.
• Art & Market in the Arbor, third Fridays, 6 to 8 p.m. A new organizer relaunched and renamed this monthly artists-and-makers event. It's held in the courtyard between Maggie's Attic, Back Porch Pizza and Pisces Rising. October's market was on the 16th, so the next one is Friday, November 20.
• Rome's Flavours, still in build-out. As of Buzz's September edition, the owner hadn't announced an opening month for the Mount Dora location of this Winter Park Italian restaurant, which serves pizzas, pastas and an Italian wine list. Buzz said the exterior work was "shaping up well."
• Crumbl, U.S. Highway 441. In August, a company representative told Buzz that the Mount Dora bakery still had no confirmed opening date.

Long & Scott Farm's corn maze, a seven-acre maze with an Island Adventure theme this year, is open weekends through November 15. The farm also offers hayrides, pond fishing and a super slide.

Downtown changes like these affect a home's value, from parking on its street to the shops within walking distance, and they're part of how we advise owners and buyers in Lake County. If you're wondering how the new street pattern or the shift in storefronts relates to a property you own or are considering, The Andreasen Group can talk it through with you. Let's Connect.