County Commission approves payment for resurfacing of parking lot at 1301 Cattlemen Road as part of undertaking

Among their last actions before the end of 2024, the Sarasota County commissioners voted unanimously to increase the budget by $400,000 for the new Emergency Services Administration Building planned at 6062 Porter Way, adjacent to the county’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
The vote came with the board’s approval of its Dec. 17, 2024 Consent Agenda of routine business matters.
The county’s agreement with Ajax Building Co. LLC of Sarasota for the project rose from $14,136,511 to $14,536,511 as a result of the vote, as noted in a county staff memo for the Dec. 17, 2024 meeting.
The extra funds were necessary for the resurfacing of the parking lot at 1301 Cattlemen Road, which is next do the site planned to be home to the Emergency Services structure, the memo explained.
The new building, which will encompass approximately 28,500 square feet, will stand on the site of the former county History Center, the memo added. It will be a “storm-hardened” two-story structure, with 12,000-square-foot second floor “initially built as a ‘shell’ space for future needs and expansion,” the staff memo noted.
“Within the public lobby Emergency Services memorabilia and educational material will be on display,” the memo continued. Among those items will be an “historical artifact” from the Sept. 11, 2021 terrorist attacks on the United States, “an antique fire truck, a salvaged brick from a fire department structure,” and “images of fire service tools, events, and operations,” the memo said.

The January Capital Projects Department update on the project also points out that the structure will be home not only to Emergency Services administrative functions, but also to the county Fire Marshal and “Emergency Services Radio Systems Maintenance.” Further, it says, the building will have space for “offices and support” for Emergency Services Director Rich Collins, Fire Chief David Rathbun, and “Fire Code and Plans examiners,” plus conference rooms and a fitness area.
“Substantial completion” of the building is expected in May, the Dec. 17 staff memo said. The American Institute of Architects explains, “Substantial completion is a critical milestone that signifies the point at which a construction project is considered to be almost finished. While not every minor detail or finishing touch may be in place, substantial completion denotes that the project is functional and can be occupied or utilized for its intended purpose. It indicates that the contractor has fulfilled the major requirements outlined in the contract, allowing the owner to take possession of the premises or facility.”
Final completion is scheduled for this summer, the January Capital Projects update notes.
Wall framing and drywall work for the lobby is underway, that update continues, with the chiller expected to start up before the end of this month. Chillers provide cooling for structures.
The funding resolution in the Dec. 17, 2024 agenda packet noted, “The existing Emergency Services Administrative functions are located at various facilities throughout Sarasota County, but primarily at 1660 Ringling Blvd., which is a non-hardened structure located within [a] storm surge [area]. Relocating administrative functions in a hardened facility located closer to the Emergency Operations Center will allow Emergency Services to function more cohesively day-to-day as well as during events.”
(The building that stands at 1660 Ringling Blvd. in downtown Sarasota is the County Administration Center.)
As it turned out, Hurricane Milton caused significant damage to the Ringling Boulevard building, which necessitated the rescheduling of County Commission and County Planning Commission meetings to the R.L. Anderson Administration Center in Venice for a number of weeks in the aftermath of that hurricane’s Oct. 9, 2024 strike on the county.

The County Commission seated on May 18, 2021 launched the Emergency Services building project, voting unanimously that day to add the design of the structure to its Capital Improvement Program.
Then, on Feb. 23, 2022, the County Commission approved the contract with Ajax Building Co. to serve as the construction manager (CM) at risk for preconstruction services for the project, the Dec. 17, 2024 staff memo pointed out. In their capacity as construction manager at risk, Ajax representatives are overseeing the initiative, including ensuring that subcontractors stay within the county budget for the undertaking.
The Schenkel Shultz architectural firm in Sarasota won the county contract to design the new structure and handle the permitting for it, the Dec. 17 staff memo added.
In May 2023, the County Commission approved the issuance of up to $28 million in bonds to help finance both the new Emergency Services Building and the new county Mosquito Management Facility, the memo further noted. In February of that year, the board also had approved the borrowing of $1,133,000 from the Pooled Commercial Paper Loan Program of the Florida Local Government Finance commission to help pay for the initiative.
County fire district assessments and Emergency Services assessments for the EMS District have been pledged to pay back the bonds, the Dec. 17 funding resolution said.