Downtown beautification projects hang in the balance

Members of the city’s Downtown Improvement District believe two flower baskets, slated for installation at Main Street and Palm Avenue, may lead to a larger project to beautify the area.

For months, the city’s Downtown Improvement District has examined its options for installing flowers downtown. Before the group’s next meeting Dec. 9, two flower baskets should be mounted to light poles at Main and Palm as a demonstration of a potential project throughout the DID area. There are more than 130 light poles within the Downtown Improvement District.

John Moran, the DID operations manager, said the project could cost as much as $100,000 considering both installation and maintenance. The group’s ongoing budgetary limitations, brought on by a $1.9 million Main Street improvement project in 2013, would pose a challenge when it came to funding.

Moran suggested a partnership with merchants could help overcome that obstacle. DID Chairman Mark Kauffman said that a smaller project — adorning every other light pole, for example — could also be a viable option.

As the flower conversation has continued, board member Eileen Hampshire has floated another potential project: the installation of public restrooms downtown. Hampshire, who owns Art to Walk On on Palm Avenue, believes merchants are burdened with the requirement to provide restroom facilities for visitors downtown — even if those visitors aren’t necessarily patronizing their business.

Board member Ron Soto, who also serves as the president of the Sarasota Downtown Merchants Association, said he hadn’t heard much demand for restrooms, but expressed some support for the idea.

Still, he said, the DID would likely have to back just one larger project.

“The concept is good,” Soto said. “The big question is: Do we put in bathrooms or flowers? Because that's going to blow the budget.”

Kauffman agreed that the idea was good, and said his research indicated reasonably priced options may be available. He did express concern about potential illicit behavior in the restrooms if they’re installed downtown, and said a project might be better in the city’s hands.

The board, down to three members following two recent resignations, signaled a preference for a flower project. The City Commission is scheduled to appoint new members to the board Dec. 1. When the new board is in place, Moran suggested the group should hold a workshop to better determine the path it wants to take to improve the downtown area.

“You can see where you’re going to go, especially with two new board members,” Moran said.