bserver O SARASOTA
You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.
in this issue
DIVERSIONS
Thousands pound pavement for 2012 Ringling Bridge Run. PAGE 2B
OUR TOWN
Norm Schimmel
Clifford the Big Red Dog with first lady Ann Scott
+ First lady kicks off literacy To kick off the statewide program, Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! first lady Ann Scott paid a visit Monday, Jan. 23, to Sarasota Middle School. Accompanied by a brass band, high-stepping cheerleaders, two mascots — including Clifford the Big Red Dog — assorted dignitaries and a gymnasium packed with enthusiastic readers from all grade levels, Scott emphasized the importance of literacy. The event included presentations by local and state officials and a popular author of young-adult fiction. Roxie Jerde, president of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, said the foundation is investing more than $260,000 a year in middle-school literacy programs.
+ Sarasota to host two art shows Feeling artsy? Check out two different art shows this Saturday and Sunday in Sarasota. The 14th annual Art in the Park Fest will take place at Five Points Park, located at Main Street and Pineapple Avenue; admission is free. On St. Armands Circle, the Winter Art Festival will showcase more than 175 artists from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free for that art show, as well.
Thursday, JANUARY 26, 2012
NEIGHBORHOOD
Bello Nock is living large on his Sarasota funny farm. INSIDE
business breakdown
First Church unveils results of $2 million renovation project. PAGE 1B
by Kurt Schultheis | City Editor
Burns Square businesses eye construction effects Deputy City Manager Marlon Brown announced that the city Jan. 29 will close Ringling Boulevard from Orange Avenue to U.S. 41. With Burns Square business owners fretting about lost income, Deputy City Manager Marlon Brown has approved the closure of Ringling Boulevard from Orange Avenue to U.S. 41, beginning Jan. 29, saying that will shave at least 45 days off the construction schedule for two roundabouts on Ringling Boulevard. “No business will be affected by the closure, because there are already alternative entrances and exits in place,” Brown said Jan. 20. Nancy’s Bar-B-Q founder and partner Nancy Krohngold, meanwhile, has a direct view of pipes and piles of dirt. Her restaurant, which sits on Ringling Boulevard at the edge of Burns Square, is within easy earshot of the clanging construction noises. When Krohngold spoke to the Sarasota Observer at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 19, the restaurant was half-full, and a strong breeze was blowing thick waves of dust around the side of the restaurant, where several wooden picnic tables were empty. “Before the construction, we would usually be packed, people would be waiting for a seat, and I’d be too busy to talk,” she said. Burns Square businesses were made aware months ago that the
Norman Shimmel
Construction on a roundabout at Pineapple Avenue and Ringling Boulevard is expected to last until June at the latest. construction was coming, she said, “but we had no idea how bad it was going to be. It’s (creating) a significant decrease in our business.” City officials say they had no choice but to move forward during season with roundabout construction simultaneously at
MAIN STREET MAKEOVER
Palm Avenue and Pineapple Avenue; otherwise, they said, they would have risked losing state funding for the projects, which will cost a total of about $1.2 million. Construction began in December and isn’t expected to be complete until June.
And, despite the urging of merchants that the contractor should be working at night, as well, to speed up the process, Brown said that is not going to happen.
SEE ROUNDABOUT / 2A
by Kurt Schultheis | City Editor
DID will pay for $1.9 million project The Downtown Improvement District has reversed course, agreeing to pay for all of a Main Street project that resides within its district. Realizing the City Commission would not agree to pay for most of the $4.6 million it was seeking for Main Street improvements, the Downtown Improvement District board reduced the
cost of the project and agreed to pay 100% of the expense for the work within its boundaries. That means the DID directors agreed, in principle, to pay $1.91 million for Main Street improve-
ments from Bayfront Avenue to Osprey Avenue, including those on Main Street up to Orange Avenue and roughly half of those proposed from Orange Avenue to Osprey Avenue.
To afford the project, the DID will have to pay off a bond, meaning DID stakeholders will continue to be assessed an extra 2 mills for the next 20 years. The DID is sending out a letter this week to its stakeholders, detail-
SEE PROJECT / 10A
INDEX Briefs....................4A Calendar............ 16A
Classifieds........... 9B Cops Corner....... 15A
Crossword............ 8B Real Estate.......... 7B
Opinion.................8A Weather............... 8B
Vol. 8, No. 12 | Three sections YourObserver.com