The ribbon has been cut for Overtown Square.
By Johannes Werner
Original Air Date: October 2, 2024
Host: Amid storms and flooding, a bit of everyday relief: A ribbon cutting for a neighborhood park in Sarasota, complete with a drum line and speeches.
Johannes Werner: It came a week later than planned, due to Hurricane Helene. Sarasota beaches are still off limits, and hundreds of residents on the barrier islands are still digging out from the flooding that came with the storm. But a couple of miles inland, a ribbon cutting for a new neighborhood park in the Rosemary District went off without a hitch this morning.
audio of drumline
JW: The drumline of the nearby Sarasota School for Arts and Sciences opened the ceremony at the corner of Central Avenue and Boulevard of the Arts. The one-block piece of land is now known as Overtown Square, in a bow to the historic roots of the neighborhood as the original place of African American Sarasotans during segregation. Today, the neighborhood is called the Rosemary District, and it is a hotspot of new construction. The quick pace of urban infill has made residents and city officials painfully aware of the lack of public parks in the area.
That’s where Overtown Square comes in. Passionate neighborhood residents were the ones who made it happen. The owner wanted $120,000 more than the appraised value. But many Rosemary District residents donated to make it possible for the city to purchase the property. All this started four years ago, when Debbie Trice, now city commissioner, was a neighborhood activist.
Debbie Trice: At the time, I was president of the Rosemary District Association. And I used to be able to joke that the only open green space we had was the cemetery. So, now we have this. And it’s green and it’s beautiful. My dream was to be able to come and sit and read a book and have a neighbor that I didn’t know that I didn’t know come and sit down next to me and read, and we’d get to know each other. So I’m hoping that that’s what we all end up doing with this park. In addition to the school children using it and other people using it. But this is a public square for us to meet and get to know our neighbors.
JW: The small park features a walkway, a lawn, a few palm trees and oaks, a leashed-dog area, benches, picnic tables. Public art will be added.
And off they went, cutting the ribbon.
audio of ribbon cutting, celebration
JH: Johannes Werner, WSLR News.
Thank you to Jesse Coleman for recording the sound.
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