New Gulf Gate Library to be built on current site

The Sarasota County Commission Tuesday unanimously approved a staff recommendation that the new Gulf Gate Library be built on the site of the current facility, 7112 Curtiss Avenue.

“I would like to see it breaking ground soon after site plans are finished,” commission Chairwoman Nora Patterson told Isaac Brownman, the design manager in the county’s Public Works department.

“We would like to get you a design contract in the next month,” but no later than November, said Brownman.
During a budget workshop last week, James Harriott, the county’s executive director of public works, said the total cost of the new library has been estimated at $9,403,660. To date, only $2,403,660 has been allocated for it, according to materials supplied to the commissioners. Harriott had listed the project on the capital improvements program for the 2015 fiscal year.

However, Harriott said, once the design was complete, funding options could be explored to speed up the work.

Commissioner Joe Barbetta said Tuesday that the county should consider options to complete the library sooner.