Main Street in downtown Sarasota will be getting a new look this summer.
Wider, all brick sidewalks, new landscaping including towering new trees, colorful new lighting, repaved streets, and parallel parking are all part of the Main Street renovations, which will begin in July and should be completed by Thanksgiving. The original plan for Main Street was more extensive and included brick streets as well, but merchants felt that such a major overhaul would be too disruptive to Main Street businesses. City officials responded by scaling back the project and scheduling it for the traditional “off-season” to minimize any disruptions.
Specifically, the new Main Street work will take place from Gulf Stream Avenue to Five Points Park and from Orange to Goodrich Avenues. The Community Redevelopment Agency is funding the $1.45 million plan, and Jon F. Swift, Inc. will design and engineer the project. A related Main Street project, which will widen the sidewalks in front of the Gator Club, Pastry Art, and C’est la Vie, is planned but not yet scheduled; the city has not yet received final bids for that project. Sarasota’s Community Redevelopment Agency, now 30 years old, has funded a number of downtown projects, but the agency is scheduled to expire or “sunset” in 2016. The agency’s final fate, however, remains unresolved, and a number of city and county officials have talked about extending its lifespan.
In 2014, the action will move to First Street; the street is heavy with pedestrian traffic, but in the opinion of many downtown observers, it needs to be upgraded. Improvements are planned for the stretch of First Street from U.S. Highway 41 to Pineapple Avenue that will include ornamental street lights, widened sidewalks, brick crosswalks, and tall canopy trees. Jensen and Group Engineering Consultants LLC, a Sarasota-based firm, will design and engineer the renovations on First Street.
The renovations can only enhance what is already one of the most “walkable” downtown cities anywhere. From almost anywhere downtown, it’s only a brief walk to Sarasota’s attractions: the Ringling Museum of Art, Historic Asolo Theater, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, the Sarasota Opera, the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Bayfront Park and the spectacular waterfront, and a number of galleries, studios, 5-star restaurants, and outstanding retail venues. Sarasota’s sparkling Gulf Beaches and beautiful barrier islands are only a brief walk or bike ride from downtown. Downtown Sarasota communities are acclaimed for offering its residents a superb quality of life. Along with new residential and commercial construction projects now underway downtown, the sidewalk and street improvements promise to make living in Sarasota – believe it or not – even better.