New space on the way for Sarasota County Sheriff's Office

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has received approval for funding nearly $35 million in capital improvements. 

At its Nov. 19 meeting, the Sarasota County Commission, with no discussion, unanimously appropriated allocations for additions and renovations to its headquarters at 6010 Cattleridge Blvd. and for a new hangar for its aviation operations at Venice Municipal Airport.

The meeting was the first for new county commissioners Teresa Mast of District 1 and Tom Knight of District 3. It was also the first meeting chaired by Joe Neunder of District 4, receiving the gavel from the outgoing Mike Moran of District 1, who reached his term limit after eight years at the dais.

The Sheriff's Office headquarters design and construction will include up to 84,200 square feet of new construction and reorganization of uses within its existing 73,000-square-foot office facility. The office has worked to close out leases, consolidate storage and renovate existing spaces because of limited room at the headquarters, according to a staff report to the commission. Justification of the project is the necessity to meet demands of the growing county population.

Located at 6010 Cattleridge Blvd. between Cattlemen Road and I-75, work at the headquarters includes the existing building and two adjoining county-owned parcels that are currently vacant. The cost for design and engineering is $5.3 million and construction is $25.5 million for a total cost of $30.8 million. Funding for the headquarters project will come from the county’s Law Enforcement Impact Fee and a Surtax 4 revenue bond. 

The investment at Venice Municipal Airport will add a 10,000-square-foot hangar adjacent to the existing 7,000-square-foot facility that will include a maintenance bay plus additional office and storage space. The current hangar houses the agency’s Bell 407GX helicopter and will house its newly purchased Bell 429. The new aircraft is larger and requires more space, and will allow for a hoist system necessary to perform maintenance on larger aircraft. 

It will include a larger concrete pad area to allow for safer departures and arrivals, and additional office space will accommodate future growth and climate-controlled storage areas to ensure components are not affected by heat, humidity and salt

Funding for the new $4 million hangar will come from $3 million in Justice Facilities Impact Fees and $1 million in Law Enforcement Impact Fees.