City rejects proposal to build food court alongside Paul Thorpe Park

Call it a park, a plaza, a square.

Call it an oasis in the middle of the city or a place in need of a reason to visit.

Whatever the terminology or description, following a City Commission vote last week, Paul Thorpe Park will remain unchanged public property at the confluence of Lemon and Pineapple avenues in downtown.

Commissioners, by a vote of 4-1, rejected a proposal to sell a strip of nearby land to a New York real estate company for $275,000 in what had been billed as a settlement by by EDM Realty Partners LP to a long-running legal dispute with the city. City legal advisers have said their position is strong and presented the settlement offer as a required piece of in-the-sunshine business.

In addition to taking ownership of a strip of land adjacent to the park, EDM Realty proposed to build a two-story food court there to help activate the park as a destination and shield view of a nearby parking garage, one that is now shielded by bamboo reaching nearly to the top of the structure.

While Paul Thorpe Park was to remain city property and largely intact, a small strip of city land that is connected to the park but not officially within its boundaries would have been sold. A pergola with winding bougainvillea plants on that spot would have been removed to accommodate the plans

To hear the dozens of residents who spoke against the proposal, so would have the park’s character.

Mayor Erik Arroyo cast the dissenting vote, saying the proposal was an opportunity to upgrade the park and add to its usefulness.

“I don’t see a lot of green space,” he said. “I see a lot of concrete. And I don’t see a lot of people that come and stay and hang out and appreciate the beauty there.”

Vice Mayor Kyle Battie recalled when the roughly triangular plaza was named in Thorpe’s honor in 2017.

Thorpe was integral to the revitalization of Sarasota's downtown area. He was a founding member of the Downtown Sarasota Alliance and helped organize landmark downtown events such as the New Year's Eve Pineapple Drop, the Fourth of July Fireworks and the Sarasota Farmers Market. He died a month after the park’s rededication at 91.

"A promise made is a promise kept," Battie said.

EDM attorney William Merrill, with Icard Merrill Attorneys & Counselors, asked City Commissioners to think not of the proposal as a legal offer to settle but as a proposal to activate land that offered possibilities beyond its current use.

"I’d like everyone to kind of look at this as really more as a blank space of what would you like to have in this location," he said. "What would you like to have surrounding a park? Do you want a blank wall of a garage or would you like to see something where there’s eyes on the park for crime prevention issues as well as for aesthetics and desirability?"

Central to the proposal was a design crafted by students at Ringling College of Art and Design that envisioned an eight-position food court called Palate directly to the east of the square, featuring outdoor seating both upstairs and down, restrooms (both public and for patrons) and a small bar.

Sophie Ruiz, one of the students who worked on the design, called it a "unique, one of a kind dining experience which encapsulates the artistic culture of Sarasota." A canopy roof and a multi-colored overhang were design highlights of the students’ work.

"This is not going to be an empty building by the time we’re done building it," said Jonathan Mitchell, the owner of the adjacent Northern Trust land. "It’s going to be occupied and it’s going to be widely used by the community. It’s affordable food, it’s widely varied, it’s a place where people can come and mix."

The park was the focus of 2017 revitalization when it was renamed from Pineapple Park to the current name, honoring the man colloquially named Mr. Downtown. Part of the work to remake the triangular spot was the renovation of the iconic mermaid fountain.

Nancy Goodheart Matthews, who was commissioned in 1993 to create the fountain, was among the dozens of people who implored the City Commission to leave the park as is. She said the fountain is her only work worldwide that is accessible to the public.

"Who will stand up for Paul Thorpe Park when I am gone?" she asked. 

The settlement proposal was tied to a dispute over the strip of land adjacent to Paul Thorpe Park that dates to 2016. Although the city agreed to sell land next to the Northern Trust parking garage to a real estate firm in 2016, EDM-Sarasota challenged the city’s ownership of the land and its right to sell. In 2021, a judge in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court determined the city was the rightful owner of the land, a decision EDM-Sarasota appealed.

City Attorney Robert Fournier made clear to commissioners the offer for a settlement came from the EDM side of the legal equation and he was obliged to bring it to their attention for their decision. He said late in 2021 said the judge’s ruling said the city met three standards that were sufficient for claiming ownership of the property, meaning it was the city's to sell, and an appellate judge would have to determine the court was incorrect on all three fronts. Fournier said the chances of winning any appeal is high.