Bay Park Conservancy Reveals Final Phase Concepts for The Bay Park

Written By: Andrew Warfield. Click here to view the original article published in the Observer.

With a time frame for completion in 2029, planning has begun for Phase 3 projects to expand boater access, build a parking deck and convert acres of asphalt into green space.

As of May 18, The Bay park’s people counters have tabulated 1.15 million visits since opening in fall 2022. For a municipal park in a city with a population of 58,000, Sarasota Mayor Debbie Trice pointed to that as an extraordinary figure.

It also indicates that the bayfront public-private venture is delivering on the Bay Park Conservancy’s pledge to city and county governments that — going in on 50% of the $200 million capital cost via tax increment financing district revenue — The Bay will be “one park for all.”

And the 53-acre park isn’t even half finished.

Bay Park Conservancy Founding CEO AG Lafley and Chief Operating Officer Diana Shaheen delivered that attendance figure to the City Commission on May 18 as part of a report on plans for completing the build-out of The Bay by the end of 2029. With the fully funded final Phase 2 projects such as a new town square in the Cultural District, resilient shoreline south of the boat launch basin and the first of three restaurants all underway or soon to begin, the BPC is turning its attention toward Phase 3 projects.

The Bay Phase 3A/Centennial Park:

Infrastructure improvements:

• 60% more trailer parking capacity
• 33% more boat launch capacity
• Seawalls and day docks

Amenity improvements:

• Mobile bait shop
• Renovated restrooms

Environmental and water quality improvements:

• New stormwater treatment system
• Hog Creek cleanup
• Resilient shoreline
• More green space

North of the boat basin, The BPC plans an expansion of Centennial Park to add more vehicle and trailer parking, expand the ramp area and install more day docks. At the center of the park, a new parking structure next to Municipal Auditorium will replace the 800-space surface parking lot “polluting the hell out of the bay,” Lafley said, in addition to layering green space over additional parking. 

And finally, a new Sarasota Performing Arts Center to be built and operated by the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation would eventually provide the exclamation point to the vision now some 15 years in the making.

Much of it, though, hangs in the balance of whatever form state property tax reform takes. There remains no special legislative session scheduled for that purpose, and time is running short to take up whether a statewide referendum will be included on the ballot in November. Relief of property taxes, either in whole or in part for Florida resident homeowners, would significantly impact county and municipal revenue with, at present, no clear method of replacing those dollars. 

Property tax reform would likely prompt Sarasota County to exercise its option to transfer The Bay TIF district revenue to its general fund rather than fulfilling its 25% contribution to capital projects in the park. For now, the County Commission has approved its next-year payment toward the TIF-backed city bond, allowing The BPC to proceed with Phase 3 design work.

“We were grateful for that and hoping that there is no major change in personal property tax between now and the end of July,” Lafley said. “We’re all watching with bated breath.”

Town Square gets a name

When the Town Square feature along Van Wezel Way between Municipal Auditorium and the Chidsey Library opens this October, it will carry a familiar name. In April 1964, Shaheen told commissioners, then-mayor Herschel Hayo dedicated that area as Plaza de Santo Domingo in recognition of the Sarasota’s sister city in the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo.

“As part of that dedication (Hayo) said it is the very hub of our civic life,” Shaheen said. 

In recognition of that dedication, Shaheen said town square will be called, simply, The Plaza.

The Bay Timeline

Approximate completion dates

• October 2026: Town Square/Van Wezel Way
• February 2027: Municipal Auditorium renovation, resilient shoreline
• July 2027: Centennial Park expansion
• September 2027: Restaurant No. 1
• December 2027: Parking garage
• 2028-2029: Phase 3B
• 2030-2033: Sarasota Performing Arts Center

The centerpiece of The Plaza is a large shade structure with additional event and gathering spaces for programming, events and rentals.

Meanwhile, plans continue to develop for the first of three restaurants, which is planned to open in fall 2027 at the former site of the U.S. Coast Guard station at the southwestern tip of the boat launch basin.

Built atop 12-foot pylons for flood resilience, the restaurant will be designed in Sarasota Modern architecture with approximately 5,000 square feet under roof with fewer than 220 indoor seats and 100 outdoor seats. Designed by the Sarasota firm Sweet Sparkman Architecture, the restaurant will be operated by Venice Pier Group, family-owned proprietors who manage Fins at Sharky’s and Sharky’s on the Pier in Venice and the concessions at Siesta Beach Pavilion.

“It’s an incredible location,” Lafley said. “It’s a one of a kind.”

Two more restaurants are planned for Phase 3, locations remaining to be finalized within the 8-acre parking lot that will be largely converted to green space with graduated elevations for flood resilience over parking space.

With icing on top

Bay Park Conservancy Founding (and volunteer) CEO AG Lafley described planning for each phase of The Bay as akin to baking a layer cake.

“It is still our goal to eventually treat and cleanse all 300 million gallons that flow through the site each year before they go into Sarasota Bay,” Lafley said.

It starts with purifyilng stormwater as it matriculates through the park before it enters Sarasota Bay by dredging ponds and bayous, and removing invasive plants. Next comes stormwater management with natural filtration techniques. That is followed by restoring, preserving and sustaining natural resilience to high water before adding green space.

The BPC cites as an example the beachfront area at the west end of the first phase, which sustained little damage during the 2024 trio of storms when compared to the destruction of the man-made waterfront just to the north from the Van Wezel to the 10th Street canal. 

Once resilience and stormwater are addressed, “Then, and only then, do we look at park design amenities and features,” Lafley said.