After two years of planning, a sign declaring “Tavares, America’s Seaplane City” was partly erected this week facing drivers coming from the Eustis area, and the city is planning for a second greeting travelers from the west.
The first sign should be finished after a giant propeller is attached next week to the top of the aluminum structure on property owned by Florida Hospital Waterman near the railroad crossing on U.S. Highway 441.
“It’s sort of the grand finale,” City Manager John Drury said.
The structure, made by Don Bell Signs of Port Orange, cost $51,785. Installing the sign above are Darryl Wilson, left, and Chuck Peludat. The second one, planned for the Chris Daniels Fountain Park, is expected to cost less but still upward of $30,000. It will feature a seaplane on the top. Plans for the second sign are to be submitted to the state Department of Transportation next week, but it may be six months before it’s installed, Drury said.