Also located in the park (on the west side) is the Walt Disney Amphitheater, which hosts many community events and various performances year round.

In 1883, Summerlin came to a city council meeting and offered the land around the lake on the condition that it be beautified and turned into a park.

[3] Several years later, his sons threatened to exercise the reverter clause if the city did not make good on its promise.

The park was informally established in 1888 using the first parcel of land; it was the first of many that were donated to the City of Orlando by several families.

[full citation needed] She was the niece of John Howard Allen, second mayor of Orlando.

[5] On October 15, 2009, Mayor Buddy Dyer announced that the city would not only repair the fountain, but "also replace its cracked plastic skin and install a state-of-the-art system of lights and water jets" at a cost of $2.3 million.

[6] In July 2013 the park expanded to the southeast to include East Washington Street.

The expansion added an extra 1.36 acres of lawn, new LED lighting, widened sidewalks, nearly 4,000 square feet of paved patio and an additional 7,500 square feet of brick paved space on East Washington Street.