Recent clashes with different groups over issues as varied as street landscaping, store relocations and architecture prove DeLand residents are passionate about their city. A block away from the hustling epicenter of downtown, Stetson is considered one of the nation s finest small universities. Even so, it is both revered and reviled among various groups of townspeople. Recently, Stetson s plan to slow traffic along Amelia Avenue, a street that cuts through the campus, stirred up hard feelings. In the end, city commissioners endorsed the Disneyesque landscaping, saying they wanted to keep the pace of life in DeLand slow and easy and more relaxed.
Growth is evident everywhere.
And several new structures are nearing completion in and around the historic downtown, which itself underwent a streetscaping facelift in 1999. A new county courthouse will bring additional traffic to Amelia Avenue and new business to downtown, city officials believe. By March 2001, DeLand will have a new police station for its 54 sworn officers. Still, efforts continue to keep DeLand looking like it just stepped out of the 1890s. However, that concept may be under fire.