A history of the Citrus Tower

I remember when I first moved to Clermont in 2005, there were citrus trees that could be seen for miles and one of the best places to see them was by taking the lift to the top of the Citrus Tower.

From the top of this majestic building, you could literally see for miles across the beautiful hills, fields and groves that have always made Lake County such a wonderful place to live and raise a family.

Now, 18 years later thanks to a lot of development in Clermont and other areas, the views are not of Citrus groves but of houses and roads. Nevertheless, the views are still spectacular, particularly at sunset.

But did you know that the Citrus Tower has an impressive history as probably Florida's oldest tourist attraction, having been built in 1955 ahead of even Disney.

The tower was built by the Florida Citrus Tower Corporation, a group of businessmen, to capitalize on the then booming citrus industry in the area. Lake County boasted some of the biggest citrus groves in the state.

It was built to an impressive 226 feet tall to give visitors a panoramic view of the surrounding lakes and groves and at the time, it was the tallest structure in Florida. It contains 5 million pounds of concrete, with more than 150,000 pounds of reinforced steel and it stands to the equivalent of a 22-story building.

Tourists from all over the world started to visit Clermont and the tower. It was visited by Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter, and even Walt Disney visited when he was scouting for land to build Walt Disney World in 1963.

The list doesn't stop there. Celebrities like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Roy Rogers travelled in the elevator to the top of the tower, Marilyn Monroe even paid a visit to our once sleepy little town.

With all this publicity and visitors, Clermont and the surrounding areas thrived economically until the 1980s when a devasting freeze destroyed much of the citrus groves in the area and many that surrounded the tower were destroyed.

The then owners were forced to find new ways to attract visitors and despite the challenges, the Citrus Tower remained one of Lake County's favorite landmarks – and it still is today.

In September 2022, the Citrus Tower and its adjacent buildings were sold by Greg Homan to Simchat Torah Beit Midrash, a world-wide business to serve the Jewish community lead by Rabbi Ralph and Maureen Messer.

The Messer's aim is for the landmark to become a strong and supportive anchor for the community with its many business uses and restaurants. They have even promised to bring back Clermont's Christmas Tower Light Show, a firm fan favorite with the locals.

Now that the official ribbon-cutting ceremony has taken place, I for one look forward very to visiting the Citrus Tower a lot more in the future. It's such an icon in the community and one that we should all love and support.