The 40-year-old Winter Park Central Park stage is being demolished and it will be rebuilt in Winter Park, Fla., Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel) (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

Central Park alongside toney Park Avenue will be a construction site this summer, as crews begin dismantling the 40-year-old stage and replacing it with a new modern structure.

Work began as the sun rose Tuesday morning, with a backhoe ripping down the existing stage made of metal and canvass canopy. Demolition is due to be wrapped up later this week, and the city plans to unveil the new stage in early September, ahead of its popular Autumn Art Festival a month later.

The city commission had eyed funding a new stage next year but moved up the project a year with the infusion of American Rescue Plan funds to help cover the cost. The federal allotment covers about half of the approximately $700,000 project, with a special taxing district covering the rest, said Kyle Dudgeon, the assistant director of the Community Redevelopment Agency.

“I think it’s a really great opportunity. This is an amenity that really maximized its value during the pandemic,” he said. “Ultimately we have the opportunity to add to what’s already a great place.”

Then-Winter Park Police Chief Brett Railey speaks on stage during the #OrlandoUnited Winter Park Tribute at Central Park in downtown Winter Park on Tuesday, July 12, 2016. The stage is being demolished and replaced this summer. (Stephen M. Dowell / Orlando Sentinel)

Winter Park received about $15.4 million of the $350 billion the federal COVID-relief bill distributed to state and local governments. The city has also earmarked money for nonprofits and local businesses from the federal package, which allows local governments broad authority to spend on line items like replacing lost revenues, providing premium pay for essential workers, upgrading infrastructure and other things related to the pandemic response.

The stage made of metal topped with a green canvass hosted more than 75 events each year, including movies, concerts and community performances, a news release said.

“The only time we ever gave this thing a facelift was in the early 2000s after the hurricanes,” Dudgeon said.

The new stage will be the same size, but feature a hard top — Mother Nature got a headstart on the demolition and tore off part of the canopy earlier this year, Dudgeon said — to stack up to strong storms and potential hurricanes. Renderings show three painted pillars in each of the corners and a pitched roof.

It also will be rotated slightly to better face the open space and Park Avenue, with new speakers, lighting and landscaping.