Thirty trees are being removed at Sarasota’s Bayfront Park as the city moves to rebuild an aging seawall officials say can no longer wait.
The reconstruction project has been underway for a week, according to a construction team member on site. The work zone spans approximately 1,500 feet, or about 0.28 miles, of seawall along Bayfront Park in downtown Sarasota and the adjacent Marina Jack. It’s designed to improve storm resiliency, upgrade drainage, protect public infrastructure and support long-term public access to the bayfront. Phase I is now underway.
What’s happening at Bayfront Park in downtown Sarasota?
The reconstruction includes raising the seawall cap by 22 inches, city officials told the Herald-Tribune on Thursday, June 4. It’s a change that requires a construction method known as a “dead man tie-back system” — a common technique that anchors and stabilizes a wall by connecting it to a piling buried deep underground.
The construction area extends 30 to 35 feet behind the existing seawall, with additional fill required to improve drainage. Due to the size of the construction, the trees located within that zone that conflict with the tie-back system must come down.
“Preserving or transplanting some trees is not feasible due to mature trees not being able to survive the significant root disturbance and construction impacts,” city spokesperson Jan Thornburg said.
How many trees will Sarasota’s Bayfront Park lose?
Phase I involves the removal of 11 trees, nine of which the city says were already in poor condition.
In their place, 38 new trees will be planted — more than tripling the city’s requirement. Coastal landscaping including firebush and sea grape plants will also be installed.
Later this summer, Phase II is expected to remove 19 additional trees. According to city officials and plans, the removed trees will be replaced with 47 new trees, exceeding the city’s code requirement of 27.
In total, 30 trees will be removed across both phases. The city says 85 new trees will be planted — 46 more than city code requires — along with 31 firebush and 59 sea grape plants.
Thornburg said tree preservation was carefully considered throughout the project’s design process, including review by the city’s staff arborist.
“While some removals are unavoidable, the City is planting more trees than required by the City Code,” she said. “The City remains committed to balancing environmental stewardship with the need to protect critical public infrastructure and park assets.”
What comes next at Bayfront Park?
A timeline for the completion of Phase I and the start of Phase II has not been released.
While the waterfront area around the “Unconditional Surrender” statue is fenced off, Marina Jack and its multiple waterfront restaurants, along with its sister business, O’Leary’s Tiki Bar & Grill, hugging the bay on the opposite end of the park, remain open and accessible from Bayfront Drive and by boat.
The Bayfront Park playground and splash pad are also currently open during the reconstruction of the seawall.
Samantha Gholar is an enterprise journalist for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and USA TODAY Co. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota’s Bayfront Park will lose 30 trees. Here’s why
Reporting by Samantha Gholar, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Samantha Gholar, Sarasota Herald-Tribune | USA TODAY Network
