- May 17, 2024
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The Town Center Green stage is nearly ready to be deemed complete.
All that's left are a few finishing touches and the installation of an electrical panel, the delivery of which has been delayed, but the stage should be complete in July or August.
The official grand opening for the stage will be celebrated Nov. 11 at 3 p.m. in conjunction with Veteran’s Day festivities once seasonal residents have had a chance to make their way back to their winter homes.
Construction on the Karon Family Pavilion started Nov. 7, 2022.
Paul and Sarah Karon are the primary donors for the stage, hence the naming rights, because the couple donated $500,000 to cover what was originally expected to be the full cost of the project.
The final total came back to around $860,000. The remaining money was raised with the help of more than a dozen other individuals, largely through the efforts of the Longboat Key Foundation.
The rest of the money was raised swiftly. After receiving the bid from Jon F. Swift Construction, the town had 10 days to gather up the remaining funding. It only took nine.
The foundation helped coordinate private fundraising for the 50-foot-wide permanent stage between the Public Tennis Center and the Shoppes of Bay Isles.
Without the donations, the town still had plans to move forward with the remainder of the project and simply take the stage out of the plans.
The pavilion is part of the latest phase of improvements to the Town Center Green, a formerly undeveloped plot of land, a corner of which was once home to the Amore restaurant.
The entire site covers about 4.81 acres. The town purchased the three parcels that complete the total site for about $3.7 million in 2017.
Site work for the town center is town-funded with about $530,000, which includes $445,000 from the town’s land-acquisition fund. Work includes raising and regrading the site with fill. Additional stormwater infrastructure will be installed to accommodate site work and with accommodations for future buildings, which might someday include a library or community center that is part of the Sarasota County system. The town’s portion is funding walkways, streetlights, landscaping and space for food trucks.
Next up on the docket are plans for a community center in partnership with Sarasota County.
Over the past few years, the town has been advocating for a community center and a library to be a focal point for the development of the Town Center Green. During the town’s joint meeting with the Sarasota County Commission in April 2022, the town requested the County Commission consider monetarily supporting the construction of the library.
The county ended up setting aside $1 million of its fiscal year 2023 budget to advance the planning and design of the proposal.
The county has indicated that because the library would be a county facility, it would take responsibility for design, construction, operation and maintenance of the facility.
As it stands, the community center is planned to include a core library circulation component, reading and meeting rooms and a large multipurpose space.
Under the agreement, the town will have the ability to weigh in on elements it would like to see included in the center. All planning and design phases would go through the town's review process as well.
As planning and design moves forward, both commissions intend to include residents in the process as their input will have great importance on the outcome of the project and its services.
