West Orange Chamber to revamp headquarters

WINTER GARDEN The West Orange Chamber of Commerce recently announced that it has plans in the works to renovate its headquarters on State Road 50. The building was last renovated in 1998, and a growing staff had forced the chamber to consider either renovating the existing space or expanding the building.

“The chamber team has grown to a point whereby no additional office space was possible without expanding into the back of our building,” said Chamber President and CEO Stina D’Uva. “That space had been occupied by a tenant up until March of this year.  Our tenant was able to find new office space, which allowed the chamber to move forward on the plans to occupy the back of the building. Rather than simply move employees to the back, it was logical that looking at the building in total, rather than just the back, made more sense.”

After working with RLF Architects, the chamber choose a design that will involve a complete renovation of the existing space. These changes will include creating a state-of-the-art interior with expanded meeting areas, new member service stations, upgrades to the building’s exterior and accommodations for a growing staff.

“There are two important parts of this project,” D’Uva said. “The first is the creation of a conference center space that maximizes capacity and allows for additional space for chamber members to meet and collaborate. The other part is creating space for the current and future growth of the chamber team.”

The renovations are estimated to cost $450,000, which will be funded through the support of chamber members.

“The renovation will further the chamber's mission by allowing our members to use the improved space for collaboration and as a resource to grow their businesses,” D’Uva said. “It also enables us to add team members to continue the work of the chamber, which is to help business by facilitating opportunities.”

Construction won’t begin until the entire cost of renovations has been raised. So far, $125,000 has been raised, and the chamber is calling the campaign “Growth Matters.”

Updates on the fundraising campaign will be posted on wochamber.com. Anyone interested in supporting the campaign should call (407) 656-1304.

Contact Brittany Gaines at [email protected].