A show of thanks from 'Birdland'

Sarasota County Commissioner Joe Barbetta (left) and Sarasota resident Norman Schimmel were joined Feb. 27 by Janet-Marie Smith, vice president of planning and development for the Baltimore Orioles, to celebrate the formal completion of the Orioles’ new Baseball Operations Center at Ed Smith Stadium.

Schimmel had taken an array of photos at the stadium, after renovations were finished in time for the 2011 spring-training season. Many of them adorn the BOC walls.

Among the photos was a close-up of the Oriole weathervane. Schimmel climbed atop the stadium roof, he said, and maneuvered around solar panels, to capture the iconic shot from “Birdland” in Sarasota. Monday, he and Barbetta gave Smith a canvas study of that photo.