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 Patterson Foundation strengthens the community by focusing on issues that address common aspirations and foster wide participation. Throughout its evolution, The Bay is defined by a sense of inclusiveness that is aligned with The Patterson Foundation’s tenets. One will find a tapestry of The Patterson Foundation’s initiatives woven throughout The Bay’s aspirations and design concept, which is creating space for people of all ages and backgrounds to connect and share immersive, engaging experiences.

Phase 1 of The Bay’s master plan will facilitate creating a 10-acre bayfront park that will provide a pristine space for people of all ages and backgrounds to connect and share immersive, engaging experiences while demonstrating the possibilities of future enhancements planned for the 53-acre site.

The Phase 1 site plan was approved by the Sarasota city commission in March of 2021. Since then, construction on Phase 1 of the park has continued, including the completion of the Mangrove Bayou and the opening of the eastern portion of the Mangrove Bayou Walkway.

The Patterson Foundation has long 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 continues its support for The Bay through catalytic funding for Phase 1 of the master plan, which will bring the first round of enhancements to the space and result in creating a 10-acre community park stretching from U.S. 41 to the bayfront along Boulevard of the Arts. Since 2016, The Patterson Foundation has given more than $7 million in catalytic funding and strategic consulting to The Bay.

Currently, The Patterson Foundation has committed up to an additional $4 million through a matching challenge for private donors. ​​Each time private philanthropy donates $5 million toward Phase 1 through 2023, The Patterson Foundation will provide a $1 million match, up to a total contribution of $4 million — resulting in a $24 million investment into The Bay.

The Bay Park Conservancy, the group created at the conclusion of the SBPO’s work through the master planning phase, is leading the effort. The City of Sarasota owns the 53-acre underlying land where The Bay will take 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 support for The Bay, contact the Foundation's lead strategic communications consultant at MagnifyGood: rjoffe@magnifygood.com.