Overtown Square, Sarasota’s Newest Park, Is Now Open
City officials and local leaders gathered Wednesday morning to officially open the park to the public.
Participants in Wednesday’s Overtown Square ribbon cutting celebration, from left to right: Sarasota deputy city manager Patrick Robinson, City Commissioner Erik Arroyo, Vice Mayor Jen Ahearn-Koch, Mayor Liz Alpert, City Commissioner Debbie Trice, City Commissioner Kyle Battie, Rosemary District Association board chair and DreamLarge chief executive officer Anand Pallegar, Rosemary District Association board member David Lough and director of parks and recreation Jerry Fogle.
The Rosemary District officially has a pocket park. Overtown Square, the City of Sarasota’s newest park, opened to the public this morning after a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by city leaders, local business owners and residents.
Key rings marking the occasion of the park’s opening were handed out to attendees.
The park is located at the southwest corner of Central Avenue and Boulevard of the Arts. The parcel was identified as an ideal spot for a pocket park as early as 2000, when the city was creating its downtown master plan, but plans for the park didn’t formally begin coming together until 2021, when the city purchased the land with financial help from neighborhood donors.
The new park is located on the southwest corner of Central Avenue and Boulevard of the Arts.
The city, along with engineering and planning firm Kimley-Horn, oversaw the design of the park, which includes a wide, grassy lawn circled by curved chairs and benches, shaded tables and trees. The name Overtown Square pays homage to the neighborhood’s original name, Overtown, and to the area’s history as the city’s first Black community.
Mayor Liz Alpert, City Commissioner Debbie Trice, City Commissioner Kyle Battie, Sarasota parks and recreation director Jerry Fogle, Rosemary District Association board member David Lough and Rosemary District Association board chair Anand Pallegar (who is also the chief executive officer of DreamLarge, Sarasota Magazine’s parent company) all spoke at Wednesday’s ribbon cutting. The event kicked off with a performance by the drum line from the nearby Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences.
