New county administrative center emphasizes health, fitness

On Jan. 31, the Sarasota County Commission approved $28 million in capital improvement revenue bonds to finance construction of a new county administration center. On Wednesday, commissioners got their first look at what the new $75 million building will look like.

Still in the design phase, Director of Capital Improvement Projects Carolyn Eastwood showed commissioners exterior renderings of the building that will replace the current county headquarters at 1660 Ringling Blvd. The new building will be on county-owned land in Fruitville Farms.

With an emphasis on health and fitness — the building will be next to Celery Fields, which offers ample exercise opportunities — among the architectural features is a glass-enclosed “communicating staircase” protruding from the front of the building. It is intended to encourage staff to climb the stairs rather than ride an elevator, in stark contrast to the current administrative center.

“In this building right now we have staircases, but they're enclosed,” Eastwood said. “There are really no windows. Staff don't interact. Those who use the elevator never see people using the stairs, so that's why we call it the communicating staircase. The idea is to try to have staff have more interaction when they use the stairs and also promote staff to use the stairs. It's a brighter environment, and it's more inviting.”

The public will have access to the ground floor where the 3,500-square-foot meeting chamber will be located on the north end of the crescent-shaped building. A 2,400-square-foot  “think tank,” currently on the third floor, will also be on the first floor, allowing easier and more secure public access. The floor will also have conference rooms, a canteen for staff with views of Celery Fields, and a 4,000-square-foot gym.

Courtesy rendering

“I know we're in the beginning stages here, but what I really would like to know, in serving the public in spaces they're going to use, is how many seats are in the chamber? How many stalls in the bathrooms? How does that compare to what we already have?" said Commissioner Nancy Detert. "One of the first things I ever noticed about coming to this building is that the bathrooms are so nicely located. They seem very open to the public and large and they're just right there and easy to find. You don't have to go down a hallway. Numbers are going to be important to me.”

Although those numbers have yet to be determined, the floor plan shows restrooms located between the meeting chamber and the think tank, and another set of restrooms near the opposite end of the building. 

The county sold its 170,000-square-foot administration center in downtown to Benderson Development Inc. in December 2021, along with two adjoining properties used for parking, for $25 million. In April 2022, it executed a land swap with Benderson, trading county-owned land at Nathan Benderson Park for the new site on Apex Road. 

Built in 1973, county staff estimated the current building would need $49 million in repairs over the next 20 years, and moving the administration center to an unincorporated area along the interstate would make it better accessible to more county residents, particularly as the population center moves to the southern part of the county.

The design for the new building is due to be submitted on March 17. From there, the countdown begins to vacating the current space by the time the lease expires on Dec. 31, 2025.

“After that is the construction development phase for the construction drawings later in the spring,” Eastwood said. “We hope to bring back an initial guaranteed maximum price package for approval, and that would allow us to get started early on a site work package as well as maybe some purchase of long lead items. In the fall, we anticipate completing our design and permitting and then starting full construction.”

That leaves two years to complete the building. 

“And then we have a couple of months in order to move everybody out of here and get them into the new facility.”