Bay Park Conservancy awarded $150,000 grant by Gulf Coast Community Foundation

The Bay Park Conservancy is inviting the community to vote for their favorite set of names for the larger-than-life Ibis that make up The Bay Park's new artistic playspace.
The Bay Park Conservancy is inviting the community to vote for their favorite set of names for the larger-than-life Ibis that make up The Bay Park's new artistic playspace.

The Gulf Coast Community Foundation has awarded The Bay Park Conservancy an additional $150,000 grant to support the development of Phase 2 of the park on Sarasota Bay, bringing Gulf Coast’s cumulative contributions to more than $1 million.

The funding will help transform land that is mostly a parking lot into a blue-and-green oasis, celebrating nature and promoting environmental sustainability and accessibility.

“Gulf Coast Community Foundation, alongside their donors and investors, have been generous supporters of The Bay since the beginning of the initiative,” said AG Lafley, founding CEO of The Bay Park Conservancy. “Thanks to their contributions, our Common Ground lawns and bayfront trail improvements are becoming a reality, providing an open, accessible, free and welcoming space for our community to gather.”

Gulf Coast’s contributions also have gone toward targeted sustainability efforts to improve water quality and shoreline health, ensuring the environmental legacy of the park.

Jon Thaxton is senior vice president of Community Leadership for the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
Jon Thaxton is senior vice president of Community Leadership for the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.

“The Bay Park project is preserving and restoring our beautiful bayfront as a public asset for generations to come,” said Jon Thaxton, senior vice president of Community Leadership for the Gulf Coast Community Foundation. “Gulf Coast’s vision is a thriving community with opportunities for all, and we will continue to support the project until its completion.”

Serving the needs of the region as a partner in philanthropy and leader in community initiatives for over 25 years, Gulf Coast has granted $473 million in the areas of health and human services, civic and economic development, education, arts and culture, and the environment.

“We believe in bold and proactive philanthropy and systemic change," Thaxson said. "The Bay Park project ensures that this incredible piece of bayfront property will be free, open, and accessible for all in perpetuity. This site will provide water quality improvements that turn back the hands of time, correct the past, and remove pollutants that have been running off into the bay for one hundred years,” said Thaxton.

The approved Bay Master Plan will conserve 53 acres of city-owned land and create an iconic public park along Sarasota Bay. The Bay is on track to open Phase 1 of the park in fall 2022. For more information about The Bay Park Conservancy, visit thebaysarasota.org or contact Julia Groom at julia@dreamlarge.org or 941-786-8732.

Voting for Ibis playspace

The Bay Park Conservancy is inviting the community to vote for their favorite set of names for the pair of larger-than-life Ibis that make up The Bay’s new artistic playspace.

In July, The Bay Park Conservancy launched a public contest to name the pair of Ibis, which gathered nearly 300 submissions. Inspired by the flocks of Ibis that call The Bay's mangrove bayou their home, The Bay’s new playspace features two large Ibis, colorful rubber surfacing, and is encircled with kebony wood decking – providing a new space for children and their imaginations to run free.

The playground will be fully open to the community when Phase 1 of the site opens in October. The final list of Ibis names: Buggs and Grubbs; Gumbo and Limbo; Pecky and Plucky; Sara and Zota; and Sunny and Stormy.

To vote for a pair of names, visit surveymonkey.com/r/ibis-name.

Submitted by Julia Groom 

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: The Bay Park receives additional funding to support Phase 2