Is the Colony ‘the place to be?’

Is it possible that the shuttered Colony Beach & Tennis Resort, which has been closed for more than five years, is now a popular hangout spot for a new — and younger — clientele?

A Jan. 24 Longboat Key Police Department incident report states that four juveniles admitted to attempting to enter the closed resort after an anonymous caller reported the group crawled under the fence at the front of the property at 1620 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Police observed a smashed door at the south entrance of the midrise building that’s in need of structural repairs and contaminated with black mold.

They found two males and two females walking southbound on Gulf of Mexico Drive to Aquarius Club, where they had parked and claimed they were visiting a friend.

When they couldn’t provide the name of the Aquarius owner they said they were visiting, they admitted they were going to the Colony to “hang out” but said they never made it inside because police arrived.

The report states: “They further advised that it (the Colony) is known to many juveniles in Sarasota as a place to go and ‘hang out.’”

Longboat Key Police Chief Pete Cumming, though, said he doubts the Colony is a popular hangout spot for Sarasota’s youth.

“That place is completely fenced and secured by locks,” Cumming said. “The juveniles made statements we don’t have any evidence for.”

Sue Klauber, wife of longtime Colony owner Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber, is worried about the recent break-in.

“If they’re in the midrise building, they’re breathing that terrible air, and that’s a serious concern,” Klauber said. “There’s serious mold in there, and I wish people understood how dangerous that building is.”

Klauber said she also heard from an Aquarius resident who saw people standing on the midrise building’s roof not long ago.

Cumming, though, said there have been no reports of any other issues or break-ins at the property since the Jan. 24 incident.

“I sure wish people would call the Police Department if they see criminal activity at the resort, like people standing on roofs,” Cumming said. “My advice is to call the police.”

Cumming said his department “is ramping up patrolling” in the area and at the Colony because of the recent incident.

In the more than five years since it closed, police have recorded 88 incidents at the Colony.