- November 6, 2024
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The two-year renovations to Siesta Key public beach will wrap this week and open to the public. The beach has remained open through the duration of the construction and moved in phases to avoid closing one of the county's most prominent tourist attractions.
Jon F. Swift Construction renovated or replaced several older structures and added new ones as well, such as the new restroom and concession at the southeast end of the park.
Kimley-Horn & Associates Senior Vice President Bill Waddill, whose firm spent five years designing the renovations, said the plans were crafted to create beach facilities that certain themes they felt represented Siesta Beach such as waves, which influenced the undulating wall along the promenade, and blue, green and white throughout the park.
Designers preserved the original pavilion, designed by Sarasota School architect Tim Seibert in the 50s and built in 1958, and moved concessions to the same structure as the new lifeguard and sheriff's offices. According to Jerry Sparkman of Sweet Sparkman architects, much of the overgrown greenspace in front of the original pavilion was reinstated, opening up the view of the beach.
Wadill said the project was carried out with nods to the history of the beach. Approximately a dozen coconut palms, some of the few nonnative plants used in the design, adorn the preserved pavilion area because the same kind of tree was originally planted there.
Lifeguard Lt. Scott "Scooter" Ruberg was happy to see that a Mahogany tree, which has stood near the pavilion since the 1970s when it was planted in memory of a lifeguard who died, still stands.