News Briefs

+ Bartolotta will hold weekly office hours
City Manager Bob Bartolotta is holding office hours from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Sept. 14.

At an informal meeting of the Sarasota City Commission last month, commissioners agreed with a concept proposed by Vice Mayor Terry Turner to create weekly office hours for Bartolotta that would be open to the public.

The decision was made after Turner explained that a recent meeting he had held with members of the Gulf Coast Business Exchange had left him with the impression that changes needed to be made to the city’s building division and its permitting process.

The office hours will be held every Wednesday.

+ Ringling Fountain to be rebuilt
The Memorial Fountain in Luke Wood Park dedicated to Mable Ringling will be rebuilt, according to the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation.

The fountain has not been working since World War II.

A new, lighted fountain will be built and will act as the city’s southern entrance on U.S. 41. It will cost approximately $112,000 to repair and maintain the structure. The funds are being raised by the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation, and plans are in the works to move the fountain’s original lion sculptures to the new fountain. They currently sit at J.D. Hamel Park.

The goal is to have the money raised and fountain complete in time for the 100-year anniversary of the Ringling family’s arrival in Sarasota in November 1911.