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, vintage Payne Park auditorium, 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.

A COUPLE OF PAYNE PARK UPDATES (Fall 2020)

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? Let's hope!

Payne Park Water Feature by Cafe to be removed.   After having been vandalized, becoming an eyesore for 1/2 a year, the City awarded a bid for total refurbishment of the water feature (approx. $25,000), the "new" water feature was completed in June. Within a week it was destroyed again by vandals. *$@)%!!  The City has decided to redesign the prior water feature into a nicely planted, waterless bioswale; don't know the timeline...

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

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