The Osceola County Commission could buy a former car dealership on West U.S. Highway 192 as the site for relocating the Osceola County Veterans Tribute and Museum from Osceola Square Mall.

By Brian McBride
Associate Editor

Local veterans marched closer to a new home for the Veterans Tribute and Museum of Osceola County after the County Commission at a special meeting Monday agreed to enter into a purchase agreement for a former car dealership near the tourist district on West U.S. Highway 192.

“How does ecstatic sound,” said museum board member Frank Clark, a retired U.S. Navy veteran, when asked about the commission's decision. “It's this close to being a reality.”

But before any keys are handed over for the former Coggin Pontiac-GMC-Buick dealership at 4225 W. Vine St., county officials want to see a due diligence study, which would include a marketing plan and business plan, a feasibility study, cost estimates to remodel the dealership into a museum and an updated land appraisal. The current letter of intent to purchase the property from Alan Starling lists a $2.6 million price tag, according to county documents.

The due diligence work is expected to take four months, county officials said. The county would get the property appraised, while working with the veterans to compete the study. The county tossed in $50,000 to fund the museum’s study.

After the four-month deadline expires, based on what the study shows, the county could ask the seller for more time to tie up any unanswered questions, advance with the process or walk away from the deal, County Manager Michael Freilinger said.

“If everything meets our satisfaction, we will proceed with the closing,” he said.

The museum is currently inside Osceola Square Mall in a space veterans say is too small to house its 10,000 display items. Veterans also want more room to add interactive displays.

“This gives us the opportunity to get out of there (mall) and build a world class museum,” Osceola County Veterans Council President Don Smith said.

But the project was met with some concern about costs. County Commissioner John Quiñones said he favored a second, smaller site – the former Sonny's restaurant at 4200 W. Vine St. – because it was a cheaper option, adding that remodeling the Coggin site could cost “millions of dollars.” The Sonny's site price was listed at $1.25 million.

“How much of a money pit is it going to be? That's the heartburn that I have,” he said.

And Gary Abriola, a member of the 192 Business Alliance, a recently formed association of businesses along U.S. Highway 192 working to market and theme the area, said the Coggin site was too large to support a veterans museum, which reportedly averages 15,000 to 18,000 visitors a year. “I don't want a museum that is going to saddle veterans with overhead costs they can't pay for,” he said.

Other tourism group leaders said the process should not be rushed.

“We don't want to stop it. We want to see it occur,” Osceola Resort Area Council President Steve Trover said. “We just want to use the resources we have in the county to do it well.”

Just how much of the project that can be covered by tourist development tax dollars and what the county may have to add would be clearer after the study is compete, county officials said.

While County Commission Chairman Fred Hawkins Jr. was supportive of the museum process, he stressed that the county must look at spending tourist tax dollars more wisely with current economic conditions.

“We have to be prudent with these dollars,” he said. “There is a responsibility from the five of us up here.”