May 31, 2019 Melodi Smith
For nearly 63 years, the Citrus Tower has been one of the most recognizable spots in Lake County, known for its enormous size. In just 40 seconds, visitors are at the top of one of the tallest and unobstructed views in eight counties.
“The Citrus Tower was built as a very large and tall building to highlight the citrus industry in Central Florida,” Scott Homan said.
For this “Love Lake Life” feature, we spoke to the new owners of the Citrus Tower, Scott and Heather Homan. The Homans took over the tower in January 2019 after its purchase from Scott’s dad Greg Homan.
The tower was initially planned to be 75 feet, however, upon completion, the tower stood at 226 feet or the equivalent to a 22-story building. At its highest point—the top of the antenna is measured at 500 feet.
The tower was built in 1955 and opened in 1956 on one of the highest hills in Florida to highlight the state’s booming citrus industry.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, during the time the Citrus Tower was built and opened, there were 522,700 acres of citrus groves in Florida. Those groves produced 69% of the citrus in the United States and 64% of the total acreage for the United States.
