Bayfront Park addition on Longboat Key featuring new amenities for the public, thanks to county funding

Playground, picnic shelters and docks among the improvements

A graphic shows areas of the improvements to the park within the extra property, though not all have been completed. Image from the Town of Longboat Key website

The Town of Longboat Key, in collaboration with Sarasota County Government, has announced the opening of the 3.54-acre Bayfront Park addition.

New facilities available to the public are a playground, restroom, picnic shelters, docks, sidewalks, parking, rain garden, stormwater treatment facility, portions of a pedestrian bridge and landscaping, a county release notes. Among additional proposed improvements is a crosswalk with sidewalks to the Gulf of Mexico side of the parcel, where a dune walkover and observation platform will be constructed, the release says.

The Town of Longboat Key managed the improvements project, the release adds.

The parcel with the new facilities — which stretches from the Gulf of Mexico to Sarasota Bay — was acquired in 2007 as part of the county’s Neighborhood Parklands Acquisition Program (NPP) at a cost of approximately $8 million, the release explains.

In 2016, Sarasota County entered into an agreement with the Town of Longboat Key to pay up to $2 million for improvements to the Bayfront Park addition, utilizing a combination of funding sources that included the NPP, Tourist Development Tax revenue and penny sales tax funds designated for Surtax III construction initiatives, the release adds.

The Bayfront Park Recreation Center is a public facility operated by the Town of Longboat Key that provides “affordable, wholesome” recreational opportunities for all members of the community, the release points out. This includes leisure and recreational sports, organized sports leagues and activities, educational programs, cultural classes and seminars, social functions, and special events for all ages and interests, the release says.

Bayfront Park is located at 4052 Gulf of Mexico Drive on Longboat Key.

For more information, call the county Contact Center at 861-5000 or visit www.scgov.net. Longboat Key Town Hall may be reached at 316-1999 or by visiting www.longboatkey.org.