Payne Park future development? So many options & rumours. Off-leash dog park, tennis center expansion, pickleball, Players Theater at Auditorium, Legacy Trail extension to 301 plus public ped/bike entrance at East Av; original Grand Plans for Phase 3? ... And adding stakeholders from abutting recent residential developments Lyra and Payne Park Village. That's why we are asking the City for a Community Meeting to daylight & discuss. A few years ago they tried to fence off part of the park for a Maintenance Truck Depot, so we are watchful of plans. More details when scheduled...

PAYNE PARK

Payne Park, right in Alta Vista neighborhood's "backyard," is kind-of-sort-of a popular "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!). The Legacy Trail now begins (ends?) by Payne Park.  Dog walking (on-leash, no dog park here) is another predominant use.

Payne Park city web page   And/or, see www.letsplaysarasota.com for other Sarasota parks.

Next improvement:  Legacy Trail to Alderman MURT.  The City received a FDEP grant to extend the Legacy Trail from School Ave, west across the park, to Alderman Street (behind Sarasota Ford), with a long-awaited public entrance on East Ave (at the current breeze block wall). This will happen at some point in the future, probably once budgeted...

We have had a number of "threats" to Payne Park in the 2020's, of proposals to repurpose portions of the park for 1) a new music center for Sarasota Orchestra, and 2) a truck depot and materials storage facility for Parks & Rec. (The vintage Payne Park auditorium is no longer open for event rentals; it serves as offices for part of the Parks & Rec Department.)  Both those uses were controversial, with resident opposition as well as support, and neither came to pass.  See "Old Posts" pages for details about each issue. 

See Future Plans for Payne Park about short-term plans for Payne Park, and longer-term plans.  Life is all about change, and plans do change over time ...

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.