Community’s vision for The Bay has become a reality

CATHY LAYTON

The Bay Park Conservancy has designed and built 14 acres of new public park along Sarasota Bay and is now permitting the next phase.

We officially celebrated the formal opening of The Bay Park last October and welcomed 50,000 visitors to The Bay Park during the 10-day grand opening. Another 100,000 visitors have enjoyed the park since its opening. More than 150,000 guests have taken a walk at The Bay in the first four-and-a-half months!

The public-private partnership between the city of Sarasota and BPC is working for the entire Sarasota city and county community. This success has been channeled by our guiding principles: being aspirational; honoring our cultural heritage; preserving/conserving/ restoring our blue and green oasis; activation and connectivity. Our sixth principle, sustainability, is now our primary focus, although it has been our keystone from the very beginning of this project.

Adequate funding to complete the development of all 53 acres of new public park on Sarasota Bay is in place. We are in an enviable position for capital improvements. The Bay relies primarily on private contributions and gifts for its annual operations, maintenance and programming support, which is completely separate and distinct from capital funds.

Through membership programs, top park destinations thrive through strong community support for park operations, maintenance and programming. This support comes from individuals, businesses, foundations and organizations.

To date, we have been able to offer programming that is free to everyone thanks to the extraordinary generosity of 102 Founding Business Partners, who each contributed $2,500 or more to create and test programs, activities and events. Our goal is to double that number of business partners. has

Parks need friends, too, which is why we created “Friends of The Bay,” a park membership program suitable for individuals or families who want to ensure our park sparkles for generations to come.

Five-thousand park guests participate each month in one or more of The Bay’s free programs, activities, and events (health and fitness, yoga, dance, music, movies, nature walks, padding, pickleball, stargazing and more). Our hope is that those guests who are able will become a Friend of The Bay.

The Bay has been lauded for its beautiful botanical gardens, oneof-a-kind mangrove walk, inviting Common Ground lawns, a unique Ibis Playground, a sunset deck, a resilient shoreline, and more. Strong partnerships, like Friends of The Bay and business partners, ensure that our high-quality and well-maintained park looks as good as it did on opening day for generations to come.

We invite you or your business to be a part of this achievable ambition of an aspirational park by becoming a Friend of The Bay or a business partner of The Bay today.

Cathy Layton is chair emeritus of The Bay Park Conservancy, Inc.

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