The Bay Turns Four With Its Next Chapter Still Behind the Fences

When you head to The Bay this fall, where do you park? The answer has changed since spring. The west edge of the parking lot just north of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall is closed for shoreline work, and so is the Centennial Park lot. The area between the Municipal Auditorium and Art Center Sarasota is fenced off while crews build a new public plaza. You can still walk the park you know. The ways in have changed, and so has the part of the park that's growing fastest.

The Bay opened its first 10 acres in October 2022 and has logged more than 1.2 million visits since then, according to the City of Sarasota's anniversary announcement. Phase 2 adds 14 acres and costs $65 million. That's nearly twice Phase 1's roughly $35 million, and the money comes from a $48 million TIF-backed city bond plus $17 million in grants and private gifts. This year the finished pieces have landed along the edges of the park, on the Tamiami Trail side and down at the 10th Street boat basin. The middle is still fenced.

Where the fences are, and where the free parking went

The Bay Park Conservancy's park notices list the Phase 2B closures and the parking that's still open. Here's the short version for a weekday walk or a Sunday concert:

• Closed for the resilient shoreline: the western edge of the lot north of the Van Wezel, and the Centennial Park parking lot.
• Closed for the new Plaza: the area between the Municipal Auditorium and Art Center.
• Free parking: the north side of Boulevard of the Arts, plus the lots in front of the Van Wezel, the Municipal Auditorium, the Art Center and the Blue Pagoda.
• Skip: spaces marked for the Sarasota Orchestra, and the south side of Boulevard of the Arts.

The Conservancy also lists nearby Rosemary District streets as a parking option. Drop-off, 30-minute and accessible parking stay in the lot next to the park. The Conservancy posted a September 2026 parking and walkway map for the construction period, and it's worth a look before a big event day.

The edges finished first

The completed list is longer than the fencing makes it look. At a May 18, 2026 presentation to the City Commission, the Conservancy listed these Phase 2A items as done: the Chidsey Library, the promenade along the front of the park, the Garden Club lawn restoration, the rehabilitated Bayfront Community Center and the floating day docks. A later Conservancy presentation marks the Cultural District Promenade "Completed: Oct 2026."

The two finished areas pull the park in different directions. The Conservancy describes the promenade as the park's North Tamiami Trail "front door," a tree-lined walk that ties together the historic buildings along the front of the site. The day dock sits at the opposite edge, in the boat basin long known as Centennial Park. Your Observer reported on Oct. 18 that the dock is already finished and gives direct water access to the spot where the park's first restaurant is planned.

Why 10th Street is the corner to watch

The restaurant took its first formal step on Oct. 7, when project representatives went before Sarasota's Development Review Committee for a pre-application conference, Your Observer reported. The site plan calls for a 4,999-square-foot building. That's one foot under the 5,000-square-foot threshold that allows administrative site plan approval in the Bay Park Zone district.

The location is the end of 10th Street, across the basin from the boat launch. According to the same Observer story, the Venice Pier Group will run it. That's the company behind Sharky's On The Pier and Fins at Sharky's in Venice, and it has also handled concessions at Sarasota County's Snook Haven Park. Philip DiMaria of the project consultant Kimley-Horn told the committee, as quoted by the Observer, that "It's always been part of the long-term plan to implement uses like the one that we're discussing today."

More is planned at that end of the park. The Observer reports the boat launch area is slated for an additional ramp and more floating day docks. The Conservancy's May presentation puts the boat launch upgrade at a 33 percent increase in launch capacity, with added trailer parking. The Observer describes this as the first of potentially three restaurants in the center of the 53-acre site. It's also a key source of revenue for running the park over the long term. Put the dock, the ramp work and the restaurant together, and the basin at 10th Street is where most of the park's next new uses are planned.

A schedule made of targets

Every date below is a target, and some have already moved. In May, the Conservancy gave the City Commission this timeline of approximate completion dates:

The Plaza is the clearest example of a date that slipped. In May, Your Observer described it as a town square on Van Wezel Way next to the Municipal Auditorium, with a large shade structure and space for events, and expected it to open in October 2026. The Conservancy's own later presentation now lists 2027.

The official sources also disagree on Phase 2 as a whole. The Conservancy FAQ says construction "should be completed by the end of 2026," while the City's anniversary release says completion is expected in 2027. The component dates line up with the City's version. Several pieces are scheduled for 2027, and the restaurant is set for fall of that year.

If you hold Van Wezel season tickets, the September 2027 target is the line to watch. ABC7 reported the 2026–27 lineup runs through April. The Conservancy's presentation shows a September 2027 closure for interior hardening but doesn't say how long it will last. Nobody has published how the 2027–28 season will work around it.

The anniversary ends Sunday, but the weekly park keeps going

The One Park FOUR All celebration runs through Nov. 1 with more than 70 free events. It closes with the Best of The Bay Music Fest this Sunday, Nov. 1, from 1 to 7 p.m., a full afternoon of regional performers. With the Centennial Park lot closed, the north side of Boulevard of the Arts and the Van Wezel lot are the closest free parking listed.

The regular schedule picks back up after that. The Bay's November 2026 calendar lists:

1. Mondays: free Mat Pilates, 6 to 6:45 p.m.
2. Tuesdays: Bootcamp, 6 to 6:45 p.m., and The Y: Primetime+ at 7:30 a.m., which repeats Thursdays.
3. Wednesdays: Tai Chi/Qigong, 8 to 8:45 a.m. Two dance nights are scheduled: Salsa & Sunsets on Nov. 4 from 6:30 to 8 p.m., and Dancing with Donald on Nov. 18 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
4. Thursdays: Namaste yoga, 6 to 7 p.m.
5. Fridays and Saturdays: free Ride & Paddle guided kayak tours, 9 to 11 a.m.
6. Saturdays: Bootcamp at 8 a.m. and Namaste yoga at 9 a.m.
7. Sundays: free Sundays at The Bay performances, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 8, 15, 22 and 29.

All of it runs in the open sections of the park while the shoreline and Plaza work continues behind the fences, so the September 2026 walkway map is useful for any of these programs too.

Over the next year, the fences will come down at the Plaza, the shoreline will open in stages, and the basin at 10th Street will get its restaurant. If you're weighing how that changes the blocks around Boulevard of the Arts and the Rosemary District, I'm glad to walk through what I'm tracking along the bayfront. Angie Richison can put together a free market analysis that accounts for what's being built at The Bay and on the streets around it.