Residents question exclusion of Ted Sperling Park shoreline, which is part county property
On Tuesday, Jan. 20, a Hammond, La., contractor is scheduled to begin renourishing Lido Key Beach, the City of Sarasota has announced.
The sand for this initiative will come from New Pass, thanks to the need to keep that waterway dredged sufficiently for navigational purposes, city staff has reported.
“Lido Beach will remain open for the duration of the project,” a city news release says. However, it notes, “Sections of the beach may be temporarily inaccessible as renourishment takes place, beginning at the north end of the beach and moving south as work progresses.”
The release also points out, “Signage will be posted notifying the public of temporary closures. Contractors will stage large equipment in the parking lot south of the Lido Beach Pavilion. The pavilion, concessions area, Lido Pool, and north parking lot will continue regular operations throughout the project.”
In late October 2025, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded the bid for the New Pass/Lido undertaking to Coastal Dredging Co. The company’s bid was about $8.5 million, DredgeWire reported.
“This comprehensive coastal protection project will be conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with the City of Sarasota, part of a 50-year agreement for the renourishment of Lido Beach at approximately 5-year intervals,” the city news release explains.
During the previous initiative, which was completed in the spring of 2021, the sand came from Big Sarasota Pass, which lies between Siesta and Lido keys.
Cottrell Contracting Corp. of Chesapeake, Va., won the $12,688,582 bid for the previous renourishment of Lido Beach. The company’s workers ended up placing 683,084 cubic yards of sand within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) beach template, a USACE spokesman told The Sarasota News Leader.
“Lido Beach has experienced accelerated shoreline degradation” as a result of the cumulative impacts” of the 2024 hurricanes, which left extensive damage across Sarasota County, the release points out. “This critical infrastructure project,” which will entail a total federal expense of $12 million, “will restore 1.2 miles of eroded shoreline and improve resiliency” by depositing 200,000 to 300,000 cubic yards of sand on Lido Key, the release adds.
The project is expected to be completed in early April, before the traditional May 1 start of sea turtle nesting season, the release notes.
What about the Ted Sperling Park shoreline
During the Dec. 16, 2025 meeting of the Sarasota County Commission, a South Lido resident who participated in a public hearing that day — regarding the implementation of a 300-foot-wide Idle Speed, No Wake zone for the county’s Ted Sperling Park at the southern end of Lido — showed the board members photos depicting the erosion on the park’s shoreline.
South Lido residents have told the News Leader that they were shocked — as two of them put it — that the upcoming USACE project would not provide new sand for the Sperling Park beach on the Gulf.
When the News Leader inquired of city staff about that situation, Jan Thornburg, general manager of the city’s Communications Department, confirmed via email that, just as with the 2020-21 renourishment of Lido Beach, the park’s shoreline was not part of the template. However, she had no information about the reason the county was not participating in the project.
When the News Leader asked county staff about the situation, staff responded thus on Dec. 11, 2025: “[The] Sarasota County’s Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources team is not aware of county staff being approached about sand placement within Ted Sperling at South Lido Beach. The design for this dune restoration project was developed by the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) and the City of Sarasota, and the sand volume is estimated to be about 200,000-300,000 cubic yards. This volume is less than what was placed in 2021, so we do not know if there would have been sufficient sand volume to extend into the park.”
The News Leader has yet to be able to get any information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the lack of county participation. An inquiry submitted to the Jacksonville District Office was not answered.
One Lido homeowner did share with the News Leader the following email exchange on Dec. 19, 2025 between a city resident and Nicole Rissler, director of the county’s Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department:
“[T]here continues to be chronic erosion of the Ted Sperling Park beach shoreline. … I was shocked to hear from Sarasota City Engineers that the County has NOT signed up for the USACE Lido beach renourishment cycle commencing Q1 2026.”
The writer added that information provided at a Lido Key Residents Association meeting made it clear that the “USACE will stop work at the southernmost groin installation located at the Sarasota City and Sarasota County border of Ted Sperling Park.”
The writer then asked Rissler, “Why did the County decline to participate in this cycle of renourishment? What is the County’s timeline and mitigation strategy to perform vital coastal infrastructure protection at this County Park? Not participating in this renourishment cycle puts the entire South Lido community, and nearby properties, at serious risk.”
Mirroring the county statement that the News Leader had received, Rissler responded, “The upcoming work on Lido is a beneficial reuse of the 200,000-300,00 cubic yards of dredge spoil from New Pass, rather than a full restoration of the Lido [beach]. This is first and foremost a navigation improvement project that has presented the opportunity for some dune creation.”
Rissler added, “Being that South Lido is identified as critically eroded, per the state’s critically eroded beaches report, that site will be evaluated for future renourishment as those larger projects are presented. For instance, the USACE is tentatively planning the next full (intended) beach restoration in 2029-2030 using sand from the Big Pass ebb shoal. We would have the opportunity to seek participation in that project.”
Rissler also noted that “approximately 20,000 dune compatible native plants were recently installed at South Lido Beach. Staff will monitor the effectiveness of the plantings and supplement [them] with additional plants if it is determined to be necessary.”
For more information and project updates, the city news release says, persons may visit engage.sarasotafl.gov/lido-beach-renourishment.