Park place

Payne Park poses unique challenges for the city. Some city officials have sought to increase activity in the park, while others have stressed that the park is designated for passive use.

Budgetary concerns have complicated matters, causing the city to put planned improvements on hold and making regular maintenance a challenge. Within the past weeks and months, shifting circumstances have served to further muddle the conversation surrounding the park.

The following are some of the latest developments at Payne Park:

Payne Perk
Café in the Park, which opened this summer, is receiving rave reviews from nearby residents — and helping the city generate more activity at Payne Park.

When the park opened in 2007, the city already had ideas about how it would help draw people. The second phase of the park was to include an amphitheater, a new auditorium and a children’s play area.

Things didn’t necessarily pan out: Plans for the new auditorium have been put on hold, and the playground took five years to open.

That playground, however, served as the inspiration that led to the park’s newest feature. Simone Steiff-Pollux and Gene Pollux, who live within walking distance of the park, lamented the empty building space near the amphitheater, located in close proximity to the playground. It was a prime location for something like a café. Somebody should do something, they thought.

They decided they would be that somebody. They submitted their plans for a café in 2013, and in July, their proposal became a reality when they received a five-year lease with the city. Almost immediately, Pollux said, the positive feedback rolled in.

“Pretty much everybody says, ‘It’s about time’; ‘Thank god somebody’s doing something,’ etc., etc.,” Pollux said. “You could tell everybody was ready for this.”

Alta Vista and Laurel Park residents have raved about their new neighbor. Steiff-Pollux paid a visit to meetings of both groups, offering samples of her business’s products. Candy Spaulding, president of the Alta Vista Neighborhood Association, said the café was already a hit in her eyes.

“I think it’s going to be a really big asset to us — the neighborhood and the park,” Spaulding said.

In addition to providing an amenity at the park, Spaulding said, the increased activity could help offset other issues. Pollux said he’d already seen a reduction in loitering in the area around the café.

“They’re right in front of the playground, and we’ve had a lot of problems with vandalism in the playground,” Spaulding said. “It’s another set of eyes.”

As word of mouth continues to spread about Café in the Park, Pollux said he believes the park surroundings will help the business. Beyond that, he thinks, the presence of the restaurant can help draw people to the park.

“I think, us being here, there’s synergy,” Pollux said. “People are going to come to us because we’re here, but they’re also at the park and they’re going to enjoy the park — and vice versa.”

Damage Control
After October’s Sarasota Pumpkin Festival left the grass at Payne Park torn up, the city is working to avoid damage from additional large-scale events.

Just as the city was preparing to pass a special events ordinance after more than a year of discussion, a new wrinkle was introduced at the last minute.

Following the three-day Sarasota Pumpkin Festival, Vice Mayor Susan Chapman said she noticed damage to the grounds. She had no question that the damage was tied to the event, as opposed to other activity in the park — circular patterns were left in the area around where pony rides were offered, for example.

“Where there had been food vendors, there were square pieces of brown destroyed turf,” Chapman said. “Even though a lot of Payne Park is weeds with grass, you could see heavy foot traffic had definitely damaged what turf that was left.”

After a period of discussion, the commission agreed that the size of events like the pumpkin festival — which they said were “carnival-type” operations — was out of scale for the park.

“There’s no reason we’re pulling tractor trailers of any type up in the park,” Commissioner Shannon Snyder said. “These organizers need to start recognizing that, unfortunately, city taxpayers are picking up these tabs.”

Deborah Perez, the city’s municipal auditorium manager, said the complaints following the Sarasota Pumpkin Festival were the first issues they’ve had stemming from a large-scale event. The city retained a $5,000 deposit from the organizers of the pumpkin festival to help repair any damages, and the commission placed a moratorium on applications for any events of a similar scale at the park.

That doesn’t necessarily solve the problem, however. Perez said that more than a dozen events are already booked through May at the park. Snow Fest Sarasota, organized by the same group that put on the pumpkin festival, will be held from Dec. 19 to Dec. 21. Staff said the event, held at the Sarasota County Fairgrounds last year, was of a similar scale to the pumpkin festival.

With a hold placed on any additional events, the city will consider revising its regulations to restrict larger events from its parks. Budgetary concerns have made park maintenance a priority for the city, commissioners said, and they hope to avoid making matters worse with heavily trafficked events.

“We do need to have something in place to protect both the city and the properties that we are required to protect,” Mayor Willie Shaw said.

Rolling Along
The Payne Skate Park is open seven days a week for rollerskaters, skateboarders and cyclists of all ages to drop in on ramps. Earlier this month, the skate park was in danger of closing its doors. Due to a decline in revenue and $5,000 insurance renewal deadline looming, the city-owned park was in need of money to stay open. Nonprofit Sk8skool has managed the park since 2010 and, in doing so, has helped save the city of Sarasota an estimated $250,000 a year. But it has struggled since to make payments for the required insurance, maintenance and a monthly concession license fee to the city. The skate park hosted a tournament Oct. 24 to help collect money for the insurance payment, and the city of Sarasota was able to negotiate a reduced monthly concession license fee to $100.

On Nov. 10 the park announced to skaters and parents via Facebook that the ramps would stay open and that the park had collected enough money to make the down payment for the necessary insurance.

“We got our down payment for the insurance and are able to keep it open with private donations mostly,” said Mike Wallin who manages the Payne Skate Park.

— Amanda Morales