In the early 1980's, a group of concerned architects in the City of Sarasota, Florida, helped sponsor an American Institute of Architects "RUDAT" study for their deteriorating community. This study found that the city's downtown was becoming vacant and in disrepair because it had lost its spiritual and physical connection to the waterfront. This break occurred in the 1950's when the State of Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) had "filled-in" the bay to create the land area necessary to construct United States Highway 41 (US41) " the Tamiami Trail-around the town. After this event, the community-- cut off from the waterfront by ten lanes of traffic and a twenty-acre strip of new waterfront land?EUR??,,????'??+ lost its social, cultural, and urban design setting. To make matters worse, FDOT left no pedestrian vehicular connection to the waterfront across US41. In response to the city's search for a fundamental element to reconnect to the waterfront, the Bayfront Park Project became the keystone of Sarasota's Long Range Urban Revitalization Plan. As a result of the RUDAT study, the City created a community redevelopment agency and a tax increment financing fund to pay for their redevelopment effort. In addition, the City hired L.D.R. International to prepare the redevelopment plan for the downtown area. The primary action called out in L.D.R. International's redevelopment plan was to reconnect Sarasota's downtown to its waterfront, and to create a bayfront park that would serve as the new community center and focus. In 1990, Design Studios West was selected by the City of Sarasota to prepare the master plan and construction documents for the Bayfront Park. The master plan of the park took seven months and involved a series of public workshops that incorporated extensive citizen input into the design process. Major issues were "ironed out" in the community workshops: relocation of parking spaces; vehicular access to the waterfront; intensity of public and private land uses on the waterfront; location of public uses on the waterfront; and the design style or character of this park. In 1991, the master plan and construction drawings were completed, and construction began during the following year. At a final construction cost of 3.5 million dollars, the park was complete and ready for use in 1993. The major site planning concept for the park was to create increased vehicular, pedestrian and visual access to the Bayfront while providing a logical zoning of public use areas along the edge of the water. New vehicular connections for the Bayfront Park area were made at Ringling Boulevard and Main Street. Both of these roads we reconnected to US41 with signalized intersections that provide vehicular access into Bayfront Park. Adjacent to both of these roads are brick paved sidewalks with landscaping that "pull" downtown users across to the Bayfront Park. Major visual axes provide glimpses of the water and the marina sailboats beyond. Finally, two elegant gateway arches were built to celebrate the reconnection to the bayfront. The major objective of the park's new site plan was to reclaim the water's edge for public use. The old park area contained one long, continuous parking lot lining the water's edge; this sea of asphalt-- a visual blight to the area--allowed for no public recreational use along the bay's edge. The new park design has created a centralized parking lot, actually adding parking spaces with a net loss in asphalt surface area! In the center or the park, facing the marina between the two access roads, a public events and passive picnic park space was developed. A large lawn area canopied by Black Olives (Olea europaea), and featuring Orange Jasmines (Jasminum Floridum), Oleanders (Nerium oleander), and Indian Hawthornes (Rhapiolepis indica)-- subtley slopes down to the water. This great lawn with its increased elevation provides picnickers and sunset viewers with a magnificent view over the marina of Sarasota Bay and the barrier islands beyond. This same lawn has become the prime viewing area for the Fourth of July fireworks every summer. Directly adjacent to the seawall is a large, brick paved plaza, which is filled with marina charter boat activities. On weekends, special events and fairs fill this once vacant area with people, activity, music and fun. To the north and south of this waterfront square stretch two, long walkways that forms the bayfront esplanade, a great place for strolling, jogging, and hiking along the waterfront. Quiet seating areas are located along the way for sunset viewing and resting. In the land area between the downtown and US41, a large lake doubles as a storm water treatment pond to purify the urban run-off from the downtown before it reaches the bay. This lake has been landscaped with native, salt-tolerant plant species and attracts many of the area's native waterfowl. It was decided that the old bay front shoreline would become the symbolic transition from the historic downtown theme to the contemporary design theme of the bayfront development. To demarcate this historic shoreline, a great sweeping walkway of blue and tan bricks was developed. To the east of this line, the streetscape into downtown has a traditional old Main Street feel with period light fixtures and brick paving. To the west of this old shoreline, a new theme of white and coral colors was developed to celebrate the sand and seashells of the water's edge. A scallop shell, the theme logo for the park, is incorporated into many of the site furnishings. All of the light fixtures, benches and bollards were custom fabricated to incorporate these theme elements. The Bayfront Gateway Arches were conceived as a spiritual continuity element with the past. Before the Bayfront was filled for the US41 project. City Hall stood on the old Bayfront Pier, and the entrance to the Pier was a grand archway. This great concept of the gateway to the bay remains today in the contemporary arches. Perhaps the most important aspect of the park is its urban design relationship with the city. This lovely green space between the high-rise buildings of downtown, and the blue of the bay, is a truly dramatic visual entrance into the City of Sarasota- and has become its spiritual symbol within the landscape. This spectacular urban space and the City of Sarasota are forever connected in our memories... and continue to illustrate this simple premise for a truly successful downtown revitalization strategy. LASN THIS PLAN FOR THE SARASOTA BAYFRONT PARK ILLUSTRATES THE CREATION OF PEDESTRIAN SPACE ALONG THE WATERFRONT AND RELOCATION OF EXISTING PARKING SPACE. PEDESTRIAN ARCHWAYS DRAW USERS ACROSS A BUSY ROADWAY FROM DOWNTOWN SARASOTA. THE NEW BAYFRONT PLAZA DESIGN SYMBOLIZED SARASOTA'S CONNECTION TO THE ORIGINAL WATER'S EDGE, EMBEDDED WITH COLORFUL TRIANGULAR, CIRCULAR, OCEAN SHELL AND "BRICK WAVE" PATTERNS. All illustrations by Russell Moore, provided courtesy of Design Studios West. FOUNTAIN IN FOREGROUND, CONTINUING THE THEMATIC SHELL PATTERN, SERVES AS A FOCAL POINT FOR ROADWAY TERMINUS. THE ARCHWAY IN THE BACKGROUND CALLS ATTENTION TO THE PARK SPACE BEYOND.