DSCA received the following wonderful news this month.
On behalf of the Florida Planning & Zoning Association, congratulations on being selected as a recipient of the Grassroots/Non-profit Initiative Award at this year’s FPZA Conference for Overtown Square Pocket Park. The award will be presented during the FPZA awards lunch on May 29th at 12 pm at The Ritz Carlton – Sarasota (1111 Ritz Carlton Dr, Sarasota, FL 34236).
DSCA extends our thanks to the FPZA awards selection committee. We are honored to receive the Grassroots/Non-profit Initiative Award for Overtown Square Pocket Park on behalf of all the individuals and organizations that came together to make this grassroots initiative a reality. This summary of the submission highlights the joint work of DSCA with the Rosemary District Association.
The Overton Square Pocket Park project represents a successful grassroots initiative by the Downtown Sarasota Condominium Association, in coordination with the Rosemary District Association. An eight-year, neighborhood-led effort, rooted in the City of Sarasota Downtown Master Plan 2020, the project culminated in a publicly accessible pocket park in the Rosemary District. Proposed in May 2016 and completed in 2024, this project transformed an underutilized urban space into a vibrant community gathering place. The pocket park serves as a model for how sustained neighborhood advocacy, collaborative planning, and commitment to enhancing Sarasota's downtown livability, can achieve meaningful urban improvements.
This recognition means a great deal because the effort to secure the park involved many people over many years. Patrick Gannon and the DSCA Greenspace Committee led the very start of this conversation with a comprehensive 2016 Pocket Parks in Rosemary District proposal, and gained wide support from others in the community who shared the vision early on. With City Commission acknowledgement of the need, the search for a pocket park site was carried forward in 2018 by the Rosemary District Association (RDA) Open Space Committee, chaired by David Lough, with additional RDA support from Debbie Trice, then president of the RDA and Sarasota’s current mayor, and Howard Davis.
The DSCA awards submission also included letters of support from the Sarasota Housing Authority, The Sarasota Modern Hotel, Sarasota School of Arts & Sciences (SSAS), and the Encore Condominium Association.
The final step that brought the project to reality was the community fundraising effort, led by David Lough in cooperation with Jim Lampl and Anand Pallegar, which resulted in more than 100 donations. The real force in securing the park parcel purchase was then City Manager Tom Barwin, who helped coordinate the city resources to make this park happen.
DSCA is grateful to have been part of this effort, and we view this award as recognition of the many people and organizations who worked with city staff to make Overtown Square possible for the City of Sarasota and the residents and visitors to Rosemary District.
For those who would like to attend the FPZA Awards lunch on May 29; tickets are available here.
