Major focus put on improvements for boaters using 10th Street basin
Phase 2 amenities are well underway at the City of Sarasota’s 53-acre Bay Park in downtown Sarasota, AG Lafley, founding CEO of the Bay Park Conservancy, has reported to both the Sarasota County Commission and the Sarasota City Commission.
As of May 18, the number of visitors to the park added up to 1.15 million since Phase 1 opened in October 2022, Diana Shaheen, chief operating officer of the Bay Park Conservancy, the nonprofit organization that manages the park and raises private funding for it, told the city commissioners.
Among the Phase 2 work, Lafley noted during the April 21 County Commission meeting, the seawall at the 10th Street Boat Ramp has been rebuilt at Centennial Park, and day docks have been constructed there.
Further, he said, the first waterfront restaurant within the park — in a structure designed by the Sweet Sparkman Architects of Sarasota — has been planned to open in 2027. The Venice Pier Group, which owns Sharky’s on the Pier, is the company that won the bid to operate the facility, he added.
The restaurant “will be right there on the edge of the boat basin,” he noted.
During the May 18 Sarasota City Commission meeting, Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch inquired about the size of the facility.
Lafley told her that the interior will contain less than 5,000 square feet, with between 100 and 150 seats inside and another 100-plus on the exterior. The interior square footage, he explained, will include the kitchen, dining area, bar and lounge.
Further, Lafley pointed out, the design will be what he characterized as “2027 Sarasota Modern.” The site will be elevated to 12 feet, he added. “The natural slope is around 5 feet.”
The restaurant will be constructed on pilings, he continued, so any storm surge or other floodwaters would be able to flow beneath the structure.
The restaurant will be “at the dead end of 10thStreet,” Chief Operating Officer (COO) Shaheen added.
Ahearn-Koch did express concern that the location of the restaurant will affect the view corridor to Sarasota Bay.
“II will say it’ll be in your view,” Lafley replied. “It won’t block your view.”
A public walkway will go around the restaurant, Shaheen also noted. “We’ve made sure that circulation is for anyone …”
Yet, Ahearn-Koch again questioned the siting of the restaurant.
“There are going to be plenty of view corridors,” Lafley told her, given other facets of the park.
He further pointed out that the “flex theater” that is part of the design of the proposed Sarasota Performing Arts Center (SPAC) will have an observation deck on its roof.
In discussing facets of Phase 3B — which Shaheen called “the heart of the park” — she noted that the planned Resilient Shoreline will be about 9.5 feet in elevation from the west, climbing to 25 feet on the eastern side of that section, near the SPAC site; then, the elevation will drop to 22 feet just east of the SPAC location.
Stormwater improvements will be included above and below the ground, she continued, and “some more food and beverage options” will be featured in Phase 3B.
Lafley showed the board members a slide depicting a different view of the SPAC, with boxes representing it and the “flex theater” and donor lounge to the north. “Two more restaurants will be built,” though their exact location has not been determined at this point, he added.
As he did with the County Commission, Lafley explained that the focus will be on the 11-acre Centennial Park. “It’s the only park in Sarasota that’s open 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he stressed.
“We’re serving over 100,000 boaters a year here,” Lafley noted. “It’s in need of a significant upgrade …”
The boat trailer parking capacity will be increased, he continued, and the launch capacity will be expanded.
When Sarasota County Commissioner Joe Neunder asked how much extra parking will be available for boats and trailers, Lafley told him, “We’re over 100 after the improvements.”
“That is phenomenal,” Neunder responded.
“Today, it’s the largest public boat ramp within a 20-mile radius,” Lafley said.
The plans will accommodate the three most common trailer lengths, Lafley added.
The city will handle all of the maintenance and operations of the park after the construction has been completed, he explained.
The expense of the Phase 3 work initially was put at approximately $19.5 million, Lafley said.
However, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the potential of other funding for environmental initiatives in that area — including money from the West Coast Inland Navigation District (WCIND), which is based in Venice — the Conservancy expects the construction cost to fall to $16 million. (See the related article in this issue.)
The parking garage and building heights
During their remarks to the Sarasota City Commission during its regular meeting on May 18, Lafley and COO Shaheen also provided details about the planned parking garage within Phase 3.
Lafley reminded the commissioners that city leaders tasked the Conservancy about a year ago with creating 700 to 750 parking spaces. They will be within a parking garage on 1 acre or 1.5 acre, “replacing 8.4 acres of surface parking.”
The structure will have either four levels with five bays or five levels with four bays, he continued. “We’re still looking at how to design the exterior of it.”
The Conservancy staff hopes to finalize the details within the next few months, Lafley said. “If we can lock in the function and the plan with the new city manager on board in the next couple of months,” he added, “then [city Financial Administration Director] Kelly [Strickland] has time to work through the financing.”
(New City Manager Karie Friling is scheduled to begin work on May 29, her contract says.)
Construction of the facility should be completed within a year of its start, he noted. “It took about 11 months to build the St. Armands parking garage,” which was a city project, Lafley pointed out.
The latest plans for the performing arts center, Lafley also reminded the board members, call for it to stand 90 feet tall, compared to the 80-foot-tall Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. For another comparison, Lafley said, the parking garage will be 37 or 47 feet high.
The city’s Municipal Auditorium has a height of 50 feet, he pointed out.
Presenting another slide, Shaheen said, “This intersection of 10th Street and Tamiami [Trail] is extremely important to the park.” It is the primary vehicle access, she pointed out, as well as the primary area where pedestrians will enter the park.
The goal is to make certain that area “will always be welcoming and will be park, when you come to that corner,” she added.
Moreover, Lafley emphasized the work to improve the environmental health of the site. “It is still our goal,” he said, to eventually treat … all 300 million gallons [of stormwater] that flow through the site each year before they go into Sarasota Bay.”