- December 17, 2025
The new designation would help drive grant money to the area, as a way of attracting tourists.
BY WAYNE GRANT | STAFF WRITER
The Ormond Beach City Commission passed a resolution Tuesday supporting the designation of portions of State Road A1A and South Beach Street as part of a proposed Halifax Heritage Byway.
The byway would be similar to the Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail, but it would cover historical, cultural, recreational and archaeological resources, as well as nature and scenery, from Ponce Inlet to Granada Boulevard. In Ormond Beach, South Beach Street and State Road A1A south of Granada Boulevard would be part of the byway.
“It’s a new way for people to be introduced to the area,” said Suzanne Heddy, executive director of the Ormond Beach Historical Society. “It will give people a route to follow to find the scenic and historic areas. There’s a certain type of tourist who looks for this.”
She said it provides a unified effort by the cities along the route to promote their resources.
The designation would also make it easier for the city or private organizations to get grants to make improvements. Laureen Kornel, senior planner for the city, cited Flagler County as a place where grants have been used effectively.
“The boardwalks at Marineland were built with grants using their scenic highway designation,” she said.
She added that grants could be used to build a gateway to the city or park facilities.
“I always support highway designations like the Scenic Loop and Trail and Black Bear Highway," she said. "The (Halifax Heritage Byway) will tell the story of the area.”
Chris Daun, of Daytona Beach, chairman of the byway advocacy group, has been leading the effort for designation for four years. He said after working with all the jurisdictions, following state requirements and otherwise “jumping through hoops” the designation could happen this year.
He said getting the resolutions of support from the involved cities is one of the last steps before submitting the final application in March to the Florida Department of Transportation in the Scenic Highways Program.
Daun said designation should help areas do more “heritage tourism.” He suggested communities could get a grant to build trails or develop an app that would point out historic and cultural sites.
After the designation, he said, Halifax Heritage Byway will be a nonprofit organization that could apply for grants.
“We’ll go to clubs and talk to people,” he said. “We’ll ask how we can help.”
Daun is lookling forward to seeing results.
“The real interesting stuff should start happening about a year from now,” he said. “We hope to match projects with available funding.”
Historic landmarks along Beach Street include several houses, Indian Mound Park and Whim Garden at Ames Park. Not far from Beach Street are the Sudan and Liberia areas, historic black settlements.
On State Road A1A, Heddy said Eleanor Village is historic.
“In the 1950s, it was advertised as the largest resort in the world,” she said.
