Parks and Recreation wants to energize Sarasota’s ‘well-kept secret’.
Original Air Date: August 1, 2025
Host: Sarasota’s North Water Tower Park is a well-kept secret. Tucked between the North Tamiami Trail and Old Bradenton Road, the L-shaped 4-acre oak forest—interspersed with pastures—is hiding behind rows of single-family homes and now a rising apartment complex. If you have been there, you’re probably a neighbor or a disc golf fan. Now, the City of Sarasota wants to beef it up. Reece Helmick reports.
Thursday evening, Sarasota Parks and Recreation held a public community input meeting to discuss the future renovations of North Water Tower Park. Outlined in the presentation were renderings of a proposed children’s playset and adult fitness area.
The meeting at the park Thursday evening was aimed at receiving the input from community members in attendance. Under the pavilion at the entrance of the park off 47th Street, Juan Depazos, the parks and recreation general manager, began the meeting with a brief presentation. He was followed by Phil Smith, the landscaper and architect leading the redesign of the park…