The Patterson Foundation Celebrates Continued Community Impact and Momentum at The Bay with $1 Million Capping Gift

This article was originally published by The Patterson Foundation. Click here to view.

Among our region’s impressive large-scale community enhancements currently underway, the effort to create The Bayhas stood out. Through this effort, our community is committed to transforming 53 acres of Sarasota’s most precious land into a signature public park — one that is open, accessible, free, and welcome to all. It’s a commitment that mirrors The Patterson Foundation’s (TPF) purpose: to strengthen people, organizations, and communities in ways that foster wide participation around shared quality-of-life aspirations. 

Recognizing the alignment between The Bay and several of The Patterson Foundation’s tenets and initiatives, TPF has worked collaboratively to strengthen the process to create The Bay since 2016. This support has consisted of catalytic funding, thought partnership and technical assistance, and challenge match opportunities to incentivize donations from private philanthropy, including these notable contributions: 

• TPF committed up to $300,000 in catalytic funding and consulting support benefiting the formation and work of the Sarasota Bayfront Planning Organization (SBPO) in 2016.
• Following the formation of The Bay Park Conservancy (BPC) in January 2019, TPF committed an additional $5 million toward The Bay through an immediate unrestricted $2 million gift, along with $1 million unrestricted matches on private contributions to Phase 1 of the park and its operating budget.
• At the end of 2024, The Bay achieved an additional $4 million challenge match from The Patterson Foundation by raising $20 million from private donors.

Years of dedicated work have transformed The Bay from a dream into a thriving community asset. People of all ages now enjoy a plethora of experiences and programming at this signature park while eagerly anticipating its continued evolution. Throughout it all, BPC has been steadfast in its commitment to engage our community in actively creating a world-class park that is accessible to all, demonstrating continued excellence and accountability.

To celebrate this achievement and the continued momentum at The Bay, The Patterson Foundation is providing a capping gift of $1 million in unrestricted funding. This gift completes The Patterson Foundation’s cumulative investment into The Bay at $10 million from individual gifts and donation match opportunities, which have catalyzed $50 million total in private funding toward the park’s creation, ongoing operations, and free programming.

“From the initial planning process through the ribbon cutting and realization of the first phase of the park, The Patterson Foundation has been an invaluable partner every step of the way,” said A.G. Lafley, founding CEO of the Bay Park Conservancy. “TPF has demonstrated a deep commitment to The Bay through technical guidance as well as flexible, unrestricted funding. We are grateful for this capping gift and TPF’s many years of support, which have helped enable The Bay to become a beloved gathering place for everyone in the community and propelled this ‘One Park for All’ toward long-term sustainability.”

Since opening the first 10 acres of park space in October 2022, more than 650,000 guests have visited The Bay. The park hosts more than 500 free events annually while providing a gathering place for the community. The Bay’s next phase will add another 14 acres of park space and complete a near one-mile restoration of contiguous, natural, and resilient shoreline. It is currently underway and anticipated to be completed in 2026.

Beyond the free programs and events, The Bay actively conserves, restores, improves, and transforms the surrounding natural environment. Each year, the park treats more than 70 million gallons of polluted stormwater before it enters Sarasota Bay. Once complete, the 53-acre park will treat 300 million gallons annually. The construction of The Bay also removed 2-3 feet of polluted sediment from the park’s bayou floor and 3,000+ cubic yards of polluted sediment from the canal, improving tidal flow and habitat.

“The Patterson Foundation’s support of The Bay was born from our shared mission to strengthen people and communities by creating opportunities to enhance quality of life and connection for all,” said Debra Jacobs, president and CEO of The Patterson Foundation. “BPC has been an excellent steward of our community’s aspiration for The Bay, evolving into a thriving, dedicated team committed to creating this world-class park on our precious bayfront land. Going forward, The Patterson Foundation is confident that The Bay will continue to be one of the jewels in the region’s crown of vibrant community assets.”