EDIT: The ball drop is a cooperative effort between Abbey Bar Catering, Burton’s, and Cavo’s not just The Abbey/The Reindeer Room as originally posted in the article.
The long-held New Year’s Eve tradition of dropping a giant Orange on Church Street will live on following the sudden closure of multiple Church Street venues earlier this month.
According to a report by Randi Hildreth for Fox 35, the owners of The Abbey/The Reindeer Room have taken over the tradition and will be featuring the now-homeless orange at the Thornton Park NYE Street Party this year, on Washington Street.
Five downtown clubs owned by Church Street Entertainment were first reported to have closed by Orlando Business Journal‘s Sarah Kinbar on December 5, including Chillers, Irish Shannon’s Cahoots, High Tide (formerly Latitudes), and Ember, four of which were located on Church Street.
The team behind Church Street Entertainment currently owns the building at 33 W. Church Street which houses those concepts, but the building that Ember is located on Pine is owned by a group called Empire Florida LTD, which also happens to own the Empire Building next door. Both properties are currently listed for sale for $12 million on LoopNet, with the Ember outdoor bar area being marketed as “additional land for parking and outdoor space.”
Church Street Entertainment owners, Dirk Farrow and Doug Taylor have not been available for comment as the two have been privately weighing their options.
The City of Orlando is expecting thousands of partygoers to head downtown to celebrate the new year and Orlando Police Department has shared that it will be increasing its patrols.
