- March 17, 2025
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By this summer, a blighted area of open space in the heart of the Kensington Park neighborhood will undergo a rebirth as a new community park. Sarasota County held a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, March 13, for the project which County Commissioner Teresa Mast said the residents have been awaiting almost a decade.
In 2016, the Sarasota County Commission accepted the Kensington Park neighborhood plan, which included a priority project to convert a portion of a decommissioned wastewater treatment facility site into a neighborhood park.
Located on the southeast corner of the intersection of 27th Parkway and Monica Parkway, the county acquired the 3.48-acre site from Aqua Utilities Florida in 2013 as part of a multiple asset acquisition. The county demolished the plant in 2020.
Approximately three miles northeast of downtown Sarasota, the Kensington Park neighborhood began development in the 1950s by Paver Construction Co., across Lockwood Ridge Road from the Glen Oaks community, then the winter home of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.
The park will cover approximately 1.1 acres of the tract. Based on the feedback from Kensington Park residents, it will include perimeter and privacy fencing and gates, parking area with ADA accessible parking, open grass areas, concrete sidewalks, picnic tables with ADA seating, grills, trash and recycling receptacles, benches, landscaping, and playgrounds for ages 2-5 and ages 5-12.
“This community, for the longest time, had what we'd call a blighted area right here on this property,” said District 1 commissioner Mast. "When I was working for Sarasota County, I fielded many phone calls that expressed they were not happy about that blight in the middle of their community, and they wanted something done about it. The community said we are willing to own it. We are willing to work for it. We are willing to do whatever we have to do so that you guys will not forget about us and that this gets done.”
DMK Associates of Venice completed design of the park. The contractor is Sully's LLC of Venice. The project is part of the Surtax III program, which extended an added sales tax through 2024 and applies toward countywide capital and infrastructure improvement projects. The total cost of the project, including design and construction, is $810,271.
