PAYNE PARK

Payne Park, right in Alta Vista neighborhood's "backyard," is kind-of-sort-of the "Central Park" of Sarasota.

Payne Park features lots of open space, a 1/2-mile walking track, disc golf course, skate park, the circus-themed kids' playground, Tennis Center, and the Cafe in the Park (featuring live music!). 

Payne Park city web page

​And/or, see www.letsplaysarasota.com for other Sarasota parks.

(The vintage Payne Park auditorium is no longer open for event rentals; it serves as offices for part of the Parks & Rec Department as of summer 2021.) 

Payne Park update on future plans:  The April 2021 repurposing of part of Payne Park (since resolved) took everyone by surprise. Because of that...I asked Jerry Fogle, Parks Dept Head, for a public presentation on actual plans for Payne Park for, say, the next three years.  Mr Fogle replied that maintenance of parks is the only short-term plan, other than a new Legacy Trail connector ped/bike pathway east-west across the south edge of the Park, so a public presentation is not being scheduled at this time.  See Q&A about short-term plans for Payne Park.

A COUPLE OF PAYNE PARK UPDATES (Spring 2021)

Construction continues on the Legacy Trail extension. There will be a main access point to Payne Park, near where the "blinky" light is now, at Shopping Way.   In addition, the south "spur" will come out just south of Payne Park Village (just north of Novus), again with a signed, stripe-marked crossing with another button-activated crossing request signal. The nearest major trailhead, with plenty of car parking and amenities, will be Pompano, back behind Robarts Arena.

Herbicide Use:  In 2020, if you had noticed a few small areas in the shell border along School Ave marked off with caution tape, those were test plots where they were trying out alternative (herbicide) products for cost/efficacy.   ?No more Roundup?   Actually, the City finally decided to replace Roundup use with:  CheetahPro, an alarmingly close toxic relative of Roundup. A group called Non Toxic Sarasota presented comments, again, at the May 3 2021 City Commission meeting, continuing the quest to transition the City from spraying toxic pesticides and herbicides in City parks and other lands that are used by humans and other animals.

Payne Park Water Feature by Cafe in the Park, gone.   After having been vandalized yet again -- Yet Again! -- right after the City spent nearly $30k to totally redo it, then sitting derelict for yet another year, the old water feature has finally been filled in and landscaped.

But wait, there's more!
For City Parks & Recreation Department 2019 10-year master plan pages for this park, take a look here.

For some interesting history about the park, see "A Little History" page.