City approves Ringling's Keating Center addition

Ringling College of Art & Design’s campus is getting a facelift near the corner of Dr. Martin Luther King Way and Bradenton Road.

On Wednesday, May 9, the city’s Planning Board unanimously approved an 824-square-foot addition to the Keating Center and a new two-story, 4,636-square-foot Student Health Center for the 25-acre college campus.

Both projects are located on the northwest portion of the campus, which is located at 2700 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota.

Don Lawson, principal of Lakewood Ranch-based Lawson Group Architects, told the planning board the addition to the Keating Center, which is primarily used for administrative purposes but also houses some dorm rooms on its upper floors, will be used as a much-needed campus meeting space.

The Keating Center was built in 1926 at the northwest corner of Bradenton Road. The building, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, was the Bay Haven Hotel before it became a part of the college in 1933.

“A single-story conference room is all we’re seeking there,” said Lawson, who explained the existing building will also get exterior upgrades that include a series of entry doors on the east side of the building that’s identical to those on the west side of the building. “It’s a nice, roofed-over ornamental, covered entryway that will accentuate the existing entrance on the north side of the building,” Lawson said.

On the east side of Bradenton Road, Ringling College will build a two-story student health center. The building will be situated next to a 2,500-square-foot plaza between Bradenton Road and the school’s main entrance.

“It’s a place students and staff members can go for minor medical issues,” Lawson said.

The center will also include areas for student counseling.

“By building this center, the college is consolidating services it provides that are scattered all over the campus,” Lawson said.

The health center is for students and college staff, only, and will be accessible via a swipe entry-card system.

City senior planner Harvey Hoglund said staff worked at great length with college officials to design a minor expansion that blends nicely with a school “that’s starting to evolve.”

ADDITIONS
The Sarasota Planning Board approved the following additions to Ringling’s campus last week:
• A 824-square foot addition to the Keating Center
• A new two-story 4,636-square-foot Student Health Center