The Tourist Development Tax Task Force received applications from 24 organizations that seek funding for tourism projects when it reconvened Tuesday for the first time since 2023.
In all, the funding requests totaled nearly $3 billion.
Task force members eliminated seven of those applications after a preliminary review, but Orange County organizations have until Friday to clarify their requests for reconsideration.
The Orlando City Baseball Dreamers’ request for $975 million to build a 45,000-capacity Major League Baseball stadium is among the projects still under consideration.
Organizations looking to develop tourism in Eatonville submitted three applications. Dr. Phillips Charities requested $60 million to move forward with the development of the Eatonville Museum of Culture & History, the proposed centerpiece of a new African American tourism destination on the 85-acre historic Hungerford Property. The Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community’s (P.E.C.) requested $53 million for a Zora Neale Hurston International Museum of Arts, Heritage and Culture named after the iconic author. Both applications are still under consideration.
Another request by the Town of Eatonville Community Redevelopment Agency sought $22.5 million to develop the Eatonville Heritage Tourism District, but the task force denied that project.