Foundation to serve as giving hub for Clermont waterfront memorial project

Clermont has long been a community that honors service. Now, a major transformation is planned for the 8th Street Pier and Trailhead at Waterfront Park, a project designed to create a place of honor and remembrance for generations to come.

The Community Foundation will host the public giving campaign for the $9.1 million plan that will reimagine the waterfront area as both a gateway to downtown Clermont and the future home of Clermont’s Veterans and First Responders Memorial.

The design for the site includes tribute spaces, an amphitheater-style green space, a fishing pier, pedestrian walkways, and gathering areas intended for quiet contemplation as well as community events.

For retired Navy veteran Robert “Bobby” Mock, who has organized Clermont’s Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies since 2022, the landmark project represents a deeply personal way to honor service and sacrifice.

“It’s for the community,” Mock said. “It will be an active, accessible waterfront destination for reflection, learning, and connection and a place that honors those who served our country and the first responders who serve us every day.”

With cornerstone funding already secured through state, city, and philanthropic support, the final phase of fundraising will focus on community legacy giving. The Community Foundation of South Lake County will serve as the central hub for donations to the new Veterans and First Responders Memorial Fund.

“Anyone can contribute,” said executive director Laura Michalski. “Whether someone chooses to give in honor or memory of a loved one, celebrate America’s 250th birthday, or participate in one of the memorial’s naming opportunities, every contribution helps bring this vision to life. For those interested in making a larger impact, gifts can be fulfilled through pledges or recurring monthly or quarterly donations.”

The memorial’s location carries special significance. Positioned along the South Lake Trail, which is part of Florida’s Coast-to-Coast Trail system, the site will help connect downtown Clermont to visitors traveling by trail and waterway alike.

Legacy gifts will help fund tribute features throughout the memorial, including bronze plaques, honorary bricks, memorial benches, tribute stones, and military branch monuments.

Plans also include life-sized bronze statues representing all six branches of the military, along with a digital archive preserving the stories and service records of veterans and first responders.

Among those to be honored are Lake County Master Deputy Sheriff Bradley Michael Link, who lost his life in the line of duty, and longtime resident Daniel Keel, age 103 and one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen.

“A heartfelt gift gives people a way to express gratitude for service,” Mock said. “Even if you didn’t serve personally, someone in your family or circle of friends likely did. It’s a sentimental and tangible way to say, ‘thank you for your service.’”

Groundbreaking is planned for spring 2027.

Community leaders hope the memorial will become a lasting tribute shaped not only by public investment, but by the people it honors. Find more information on the project click here.

To make a legacy donation to the project click here.