Top issues to watch in 2014: Siesta Beach construction

A series of major renovations to Siesta Key Public Beach will break ground this month, marking the first steps of a $21.5 million county project to alleviate a parking crunch at the area’s top tourism attraction and update its facilities.

The kickoff of the Siesta Beach improvements will coincide with the wrapping up of perpetually delayed Beach Road drainage improvements. That project was scheduled for completion by December, but was stalled by heavy rainfall in September.

Siesta Beach renovations
The Siesta Beach renovations, which suffered years of delays, will expand beach parking lots and construct a new concession stand.

“Any more delay in this project is going to add $100,000 to $200,000 a year,” County Commissioner Joe Barbetta said in August during a debate about the project’s final plans. “We need to get this thing moving.”
Contractors began staging equipment at Siesta Beach Dec. 28, in anticipation of the launch of Phase 1 of
construction this month.

County officials authorized the construction manager to work on Saturdays through March 1 to make up for workdays lost due to heavy rains at the end of 2013. The two-year project will be done in four phases with Phase 1 limited in scope to the eastern portion of the park.

“According to the construction manager, they anticipate being able to catch up by the end of February, and after that work will resume on weekdays only,” said Brad Gaubatz, Sarasota County Public Works project manager, addressing concerns about construction activities coinciding with the beach’s heaviest recreational use during the weekends.

Phase 1 will comprise the installation of underground conduits and preparations for future improvements, which will include expanded parking, updated playground and family picnic facilities and a pedestrian esplanade.

Beach Road drainage
The $4.5 million Beach Road drainage improvements project, now projected to be complete in April, will overlap construction work for the Siesta Beach improvements by more than three months.

The drainage improvements will ultimately collect rainwater runoff from the Siesta Beach parking lot in a retention pond, and then pass the runoff through ultraviolet-light filtration units on its way out of a 2,000-foot underground pipe into the Gulf of Mexico. The project’s intent is to protect Gulf water from contaminated runoff; it is not expected to alleviate flooding on Beach Road.

Sarasota County Manager Alex Boudreau said construction at Beach Road is scheduled for completion by March 8, with cleanup at the site set to be done by April 8.

According to Boudreau and Gaubatz, contractors for the two projects are meeting weekly to discuss how to best use resources and coordinate efforts to stay out of each other’s way.

Asked what he needed most for the drainage project to be completed by the revised end date, Boudreau replied: “Good weather.”

County officials said the phased approach of the beach project will mitigate the construction site’s interference with normal beach access, keeping the area’s No. 1 tourist draw open for business through 2014.

Overview: Extensive renovations to Siesta Beach are set to break ground in January.

Players: Sarasota County, Sweet Sparkman Architects, Jon F. Swift General Contractors

Timeline: Beach Road drainage improvements expected to be complete by April 8. Siesta Beach renovations projected to be complete by the end of 2015.

Contact Nolan Peterson at [email protected]