What The Bay's Anniversary Month Celebrates, and What Waits for the Ballot

The Bay is spending October celebrating four years on Sarasota's bayfront. The park that's celebrating is less than half finished. "One Park FOUR All" runs from October 1 through November 1 with more than 70 free events. At the same time, the park's next round of construction has split in two. The Phase 2 pieces are funded and moving, and they include a new town square and the first waterfront restaurant. Phase 3 would turn the Van Wezel parking lot into green space and rebuild the boat ramp area. That work is on hold until after Florida voters weigh in on property taxes in November.

So the birthday programming happens across a park still under construction, and part of what's being celebrated is still a drawing.

The Calendar Through November 1

The Bay Park Conservancy lists six signature events. It calls them annual traditions, and they anchor the month.

1. Salsa & Sunsets Community Celebration, Wednesday, October 7, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. It opens with a fourth-anniversary toast, followed by live music and a Latino-inspired dance party.
2. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Friday, October 9, 9 to 11 p.m., screened under the stars.
3. Park-toberfest, Sunday, October 11, 5 to 7 p.m. Expect live music, a stein-hoisting contest, chicken dancing and German-inspired food.
4. Boo! at The Bay Family Halloween, Saturday, October 17, 5 to 7:45 p.m. Costumes, trick-or-treating, free pumpkin picking and a family movie.
5. Taste of The Bay Food Festival, Sunday, October 25, noon to 3 p.m. Sarasota-Manatee Originals presents it, with signature dishes from locally owned restaurants.
6. Best of The Bay Music Fest, Sunday, November 1, 1 to 7 p.m. It closes the month with an all-day lineup of regional talent.

The other sixty-some events fill the weeks in between, with live music, movies, dance, Opera at The Bay, fitness classes and family activities, all free. The full schedule is on the conservancy's Eventbrite collection, which is linked from The Bay's anniversary page.

The park has earned a full month of parties. In May, Bay Park Conservancy Founding CEO AG Lafley and Chief Operating Officer Diana Shaheen told the City Commission that the park's people counters had logged 1.15 million visits since its fall 2022 opening, as of May 18. Mayor Debbie Trice called that an extraordinary figure for a city of 58,000. The same report included a line that matters more for the year ahead. The 53-acre park "isn't even half finished."

What's Built, What's Building, What's Paused

Every remaining project at The Bay falls into one of two groups. The first is already funded and underway. The second hasn't had construction money committed.

The Plaza is the next piece most residents are likely to use. It sits along Van Wezel Way between Municipal Auditorium and the library. Its centerpiece is a large shade structure, with more space for events, gatherings and rentals. The name has history. In April 1964, then-mayor Herschel Hayo dedicated this spot as Plaza de Santo Domingo, after Sarasota's sister city in the Dominican Republic, and called it "the very hub of our civic life," Shaheen told commissioners. The conservancy shortened the name to The Plaza. The October target dates from that May presentation. No ribbon-cutting had been announced as of this writing.

The restaurant is further off, and its plans are still being worked out. As of May, it was designed to stand on 12-foot pylons for flood resilience, in Sarasota Modern style designed by the Sarasota firm Sweet Sparkman Architecture. The plan calls for about 5,000 square feet under roof, fewer than 220 indoor seats and 100 outdoor seats. Venice Pier Group will run it. That family-owned company operates Fins at Sharky's and Sharky's on the Pier in Venice, plus the concessions at the Siesta Beach Pavilion. Phase 3 plans call for two more restaurants, at locations not yet set inside the 8-acre parking lot.

Why One List Keeps Moving and the Other Doesn't

The difference between the two groups comes down to where the money comes from. The Bay was built as a public-private partnership. The capital cost is estimated at $200 million. The conservancy covers 50% of capital costs and ongoing operations through philanthropy. The other 50% comes from public money through a tax increment financing district, which draws on the rising tax values of property around the park. Phase 2 is already fully funded. Phase 3 is estimated at $59 million to $69 million, and so far only $1 million in public funds has been allocated, for design.

Construction money from that district needs three approvals. City Director of Financial Administration Kelly Strickland told commissioners, "Anything that's paid for with The Bay TIF (tax increment financing) has to have a three-way approval, which is the city, the county and the Bay Park Improvement Board." Sarasota County approved its next-year payment toward the TIF-backed city bond, and that let design work go ahead. As of August, the county had not signed off on its share of Phase 3 construction.

The November ballot comes next. At the commission's July 27 and 28 budget workshop, City Manager Karie Friling recommended pausing six projects she called "generational" until voters decide Florida Amendment 3, a property-tax referendum. The Bay Phase 3 and the Performing Arts Center are two of the six. City staff estimate the measure could cut property tax revenue by $5.5 million by fiscal year 2029. Friling explained the recommendation this way:

"It doesn't mean the projects aren't important. It doesn't mean that we haven't invested already a lot of resources into pursuing these. It just means that we have an unknown future, and because of the impact that the vote could have on the long-term financial stability of the city, it is my recommendation that we just pause these at this time until we know the results of the referendum."

Commissioners unanimously asked her to spell out which parts of the six projects could keep moving before the final budget vote in September. The commission adopted the fiscal year 2027 budget on Monday, September 21. The budget totals $322.36 million, and the citywide millage rate stays at 3.2730 mills. The Your Observer report on the meeting doesn't mention any change to the pause, and we found no separate vote on either project. The May report raised a related risk. If property-tax reform passes, Sarasota County would likely use its option to move The Bay TIF revenue into its general fund instead of paying its 25% share of park capital projects.

A pause doesn't stop all work. Friling said she and Deputy City Manager Jennifer Jorgensen will keep meeting with the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation on the implementation agreement for the new hall.

The Van Wezel Lot, This Month and Later

Most of the paused plans sit on one piece of ground. The current Van Wezel parking lot has about 800 surface spaces. Phase 3 would replace it with a parking structure next to Municipal Auditorium and green space laid over more parking below. The proposed Performing Arts Center would go in the northeast corner of the same lot. Renzo Piano Building Workshop's concept has been scaled down from a 2,700-seat main hall to 2,200 seats, at an estimated $260 million to $295 million. The foundation has committed to raise $172 million to $207 million of that.

For now, the lot does what it has always done on show nights. The Van Wezel's fall listings include the Boz Scaggs Rhythm Review on October 11, Rumours of Fleetwood Mac on October 17 and Ghostbusters in Concert on October 29. Two of those nights overlap with anniversary events in the park next door. Park-toberfest runs the evening of the Boz Scaggs show, and Boo! at The Bay runs the same night as Rumours of Fleetwood Mac. Anyone parking that night is using the lot Phase 3 would rebuild.

Two other cultural openings fall inside the anniversary month. Selby Gardens' downtown campus opens The Orchid Show 2026: Christian Sampson on October 10. It pairs living orchids with site-specific art installations and runs through December 6. Selby's family Spooktacular runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on October 25, so for the last hour it runs at the same time as Taste of The Bay, which starts at noon. Sarasota Art Museum opens three exhibitions on October 18: Presence: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder, Chie Fueki: Painting the Floating World and Eszter Sziksz: Seeking.

When Best of The Bay wraps up on November 1, the referendum will be days away. The Plaza and the Coast Guard station restaurant will keep moving either way. Whether the Van Wezel lot becomes the parkland and concert hall shown in the renderings depends on the city, the county and the Bay Park Improvement Board, and their decisions depend on the vote.

If you're weighing what The Bay's next phase means for a home near the bayfront, or what a Cultural District address could look like by the 2029 build-out target, The Holt Team follows these decisions as they're made. Request a Consultation and we'll walk you through how the November outcome could affect the blocks around the park.