The Bay is a signature public park along Sarasota Bay. Designed to be “One Park for All,” The Bay is open and accessible, free and welcoming to the full and rich diversity of the community, now and for generations to come. The Bay conserves, preserves, restores, and transforms 53 acres of precious city-owned land along Sarasota Bay from what was mostly parking lot into a blue and green oasis – providing a sustainable bayfront gathering place for the community to experience and enjoy a wide range of park uses, free programs, and events.

Through The Bay, the community is engaged in a multi-year journey to fulfill its vision to transform 53 acres of the city’s most precious land on Sarasota’s bayfront into a public park that is free, open, and welcoming to our diverse region while offering fitness, health, cultural, recreational, and educational activities and events.

The goals of this effort are closely aligned with The Patterson Foundation’s mission to strengthen people, organizations, and communities in ways that foster wide participation around shared quality-of-life aspirations.

• Arts — The Bay will include a Cultural District honoring the land’s historic arts and cultural buildings, connecting them through a stunning tree-lined promenade.

• Civic Responsibility — From the earliest days of this effort, The Bay has worked to conserve, preserve, restore, and transform 53 acres of precious city-owned land in partnership with local government. Rigorous research and public outreach guided the creation of The Bay’s master plan, ensuring that each phase of its evolution reflects the aspirations of our community.

• Education — The reclaimed, restored natural amenities of The Bay provide experiential learning opportunities for students throughout the community.

• Environment — Much of the land at The Bay has existed as a parking lot for decades. Through The Bay, this land is being revitalized as a blue and green oasis, providing new habitat for local wildlife.

• Health — The Bay hosts organized recreational programs year-round. The open, accessible space provides ample opportunities for walking, kayaking, and a broad range of fitness activities.

• Infrastructure — The Bay’s features are designed to be resilient to coastal flooding, minimizing impact from severe storms and other natural disasters.

• Nonprofit Sector — The Bay works in close partnership with regional nonprofits to provide programs and activities for visitors.

The Patterson Foundation first supported this multi-sector, community-strengthening effort by providing $300,000 in catalytic funding and consulting support benefiting the formation and work of the Sarasota Bayfront Planning Organization (SBPO) from the inception of its inclusive master-planning phase onward. In January 2019, the SBPO evolved into The Bay Park Conservancy (BPC) to work with the City of Sarasota to create, co-fund, build, and operate a park for the community.

The Patterson Foundation continued its support for The Bay through catalytic funding and challenge matches on donations for Phase 1 of the master plan, which brought the first round of enhancements to the space and resulted in creating 10 acres of community park space stretching from U.S. 41 to the bayfront along Boulevard of the Arts. Between 2016 and 2025, The Patterson Foundation contributed $10 million in unrestricted funding to The Bay, catalyzing $50 million in private donations.

The Bay Park Conservancy, the group created at the conclusion of the SBPO’s work through the master planning phase, is leading the effort for our community. The City of Sarasota owns the 53-acre underlying land where The Bay is taking shape. Following unanimous approval from the City Commission in April 2019, the City of Sarasota entered into a partnership agreement with the Bay Park Conservancy to manage the implementation of the master plan.

For more information about The Bay, visit thebaysarasota.org. For more information about The Patterson Foundation's previous support for The Bay, contact the Foundation's lead strategic communications consultant, Roxanne Joffe, at MagnifyGood: rjoffe@magnifygood.com