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VISION TO REALITY

A core group of business, civic and philanthropic leaders in Sarasota came together over the past decade for one common cause: to turn a parking lot into a world-class park.

BY MARK GORDON | CONTRIBUTOR

The Bay Park begins to take shape — and it’s just getting started.

The most talked about park in at least a generation in Sarasota was born on a bus. (We’ll get back to that in a minute.)

That park is The Bay. The elegantly simple name defies the occasionally angsty decade-long process to get to Oct. 14. That’s the day phase one of the park, which sits on 53 acres of bayfront property west of Tamiami Trail between Boulevard of the Arts and 10th Street, officially opened. More phases of The Bay are forthcoming over roughly the next decade, in what will be a $150 million project — the first-ever public-private partnership of its kind the city has ever been involved with.

“This is a tremendous project,” Sarasota City Manager Marlon Brown says. “I’m so excited for the city.”

That excitement, and the park overall, can be traced to a handful of integral people and important moments, which, at various levels and a variety of times, proved indispensable to moving forward with The Bay.

In interviews with more than a half-dozen of those people, two key themes emerged. One is that every decision about The Bay has to enable, foster or in some way enhance access to the park for everyone, including people of all ages, socioeconomic status, race and physical ability.

The other is transparency. Not only because of Florida Sunshine Law, which, given it’s a public-private partnership, requires it. But also, says The Bay Park Conservancy Chairwoman Jennie Compton, they wanted to know that even if “people disagreed with the decisions we made, they could never disagree with the process.”

But back to the bus. And a trip local restaurateur Michael Klauber, then chairman of Visit Sarasota County, took to Nashville in 2013 with 30 other city and county leaders. It was a behind-the-scenes look at how the Music City handled a slew of challenges, from housing to recreation.

The founder and co-owner of Michael’s On East, Klauber recalls he was “fired up” when the group was taken on a tour of Riverfront Park, a mixed

use waterfront project on the banks of the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville. He got back on the bus for the next stop and his mind wandered: “There are 75 acres in play in Sarasota,” he thought, “and no one was looking at the big picture.”

BACK ON THE BUS

Jon Thaxton, who back then was fresh off serving three terms as a Sarasota County commissioner, sat next to Klauber on the bus. He vividly recalls his friend’s energy and enthusiasm. “If Nashville can take a ditch and build it into a world-class waterfront project,” Thaxton recalls Klauber saying, “why can’t Sarasota take a parking lot and build a world-class park?”

The next decade proved to be an up-and-down, high-and-low and sometimes sideways undertaking. It included millions of dollars in donations from private citizens, five community foundations and area businesses. It included hours-long city council meetings with dozens of questions. It included some 400 meetings with neighborhood groups — from breakfasts in high-rise buildings to Sunday suppers in Newtown.

It also included multiple conversations with city leaders. While the city was, in general, in favor of the idea, the details were complex. “Nothing is easy when you are dealing with the government,” says Rob Lane, managing shareholder at the consulting firm Kerkering, Barberio & Co. in Sarasota, and treasurer of The Bay Park Conservancy. That belief was echoed by many others who worked with The Bay, including Thaxton.

FIRST RESULTS

Phase one of The Bay, under construction since 2019, includes more than 15 acres of revitalized greenspace; a colorful children’s playground with two larger-than-life ibis sculptures; common ground lawns, the Mangrove Bayou Walkway; an outdoor reading room; an ADA-accessible paddle launch; a restored and preserved mangroves

and shorelines; and a concessions spot dubbed The Nest.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Phase two of The Bay, at a projected cost of $65 million, includes multiple parts to expand the offerings, such as the Canal District, Cultural District, Sunset Pier and Western Shoreline. Nearly $50 million of the funding comes from a Tax Increment Financing district arranged by the city of Sarasota.

Another aspect of The Bay, which remains in flux, is a performing arts center. The crux of a debate around that project: whether to replace or refurbish the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. Sarasota officials — the city owns and manages the iconic purple theater complex — held several meetings in March to discuss options as passionate groups on both sides jockey for public support. The Bay Park Conservancy doesn’t control the Van Wezel or the decision.

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2023-05-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

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