SIESTA KEY
Observer Formerly the Pelican Press
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 45, NO. 45
FREE
MOTE SEEKS BIGGER POND PAGE 6A •
THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2015
SUMMER 2015
SEASON THE OBSERVER ’S GUIDE TO TH E ARTS AND SO CIETY
MUSIC DANCE THEATER ART BLACK TIE
SEASON MAGAZINE
CENTER OF ATTENTION More than two years after the city rejected plans for a Walmart on Ringling Boulevard, momentum is gathering to revitalize the dormant shopping center.
Look inside for your summer guide to arts and society events. DAVID CONWAY NEWS EDITOR
When Vice Mayor Suzanne Atwell bikes past the Ringling Shopping Center, she sees a missed opportunity. The retail complex, built in 1954, lies vacant today save for the DG Ace hardware store. A Publix, which anchored the plaza, moved out in 2010. Property owner Louis Doyle reached an agreement to replace the grocery store with a Walmart, but the City Commission rejected the plans in 2013. SEE RINGLING PAGE 3A
File photo
City eyes St. Armands paid parking To fund a Circle garage, the city is studying two major revenue sources.
ARTS+CULTURE
DAVID CONWAY NEWS EDITOR
SUMMER STAGE
Students find their voices at the Sarasota Opera’s youth summer camp.
PAGE 13A
BLACK
TIE
PEOPLE WITH PURPOSE
Mitchell Epstein says he’s learned as much as the young men he mentors at the Y Achievers program.
PAGE 19A
CONGRATS, GRADS! Pine View School Assistant Principal Jennifer Nzeza congratulates Ian Asselstine during the school’s graduation ceremony. SEE MORE GRADUATION PHOTOS ON PAGES 1B AND 2B.
To get a parking garage on St. Armands Circle, leaders in the area are willing to pay up. At a Sarasota City Commission meeting Monday, staff outlined two mechanisms it believes could help fund a garage project on North Adams Drive, both of which drew support from St. Armands stakeholders. Staff is targeting the installation of paid parking and the creation of a special assessment district to pay for the garage, which comes with a preliminary $11.5 million cost estimate. In April, commissioners endorsed plans for a Circle garage, which they hoped would address a parking deficit of about 320 spaces in the area. City Parking Manager Mark Lyons said staff will gather more information during the summer to help crystalize the logistics of a garage project. Lyons suggested paid parking could be implemented both on the streets and in the garage, if it were OK’d. SEE GARAGE PAGE 10A