Light pole flower baskets sprout up downtown

The Downtown Improvement District has begun installing a series of light pole flower baskets on Main Street, part of a larger project throughout the area.

By David Conway
| 3:30 p.m. August 10, 2016

Flower baskets line the light poles in the 1600 block of Main Street in downtown Sarasota.

Sarasota
News

After more than three years of preparation, the Downtown Improvement District has begun installing its Downtown in Bloom project, which will place flower baskets on light poles in the heart of the city.

The DID, which generates tax revenue from commercial properties within its boundaries, plans to install 138 baskets along Main Street, State Street, Palm Avenue and other parts of downtown Sarasota.

Flower baskets are already installed in the 1600 block of Main Street, but light poles on other streets will be beautified in the coming weeks.

The initial cost of installation and maintenance is $187,680, and Sarasota-based plant service company Plant Parents is contracted for the project. The DID has budgeted more than $400,000 to maintain the baskets for at least three years.

DID Operations Manager John Moran spearheaded the Downtown in Bloom project, inspired by a similar effort in Cape May, N.J. Moran said the DID hopes to complete the installation by September.