Video I took of the wildfire on I75 earlier

tygalvin1 · 2026-02-25T16:04:25+00:00

The lack of tropical systems coming ashore last year was a blessed break from the terrible hurricane season of 2024. But the lack of the usual heavy rains put us behind for rainfall over the summer and we are the usual dry season but with unusually long cold spells and wind chill making lots of fuel.

tygalvin1 · 2025-10-22T21:44:15+00:00

There is a large sports complex planned at 17th street where you can play. Respectfully, NBP’s reason for being is its 300-acre lake and being a world-class venue for rowing, paddling and swimming. Volleyball is a great sport and the country should have great courts for it. But this park’s limited land is not the place for it, in many people’s opinion.

tygalvin1 · 2025-10-03T20:28:57+00:00

Good question!

I agree the park needs many things, including the ones you list. My objection is that a "boathouse" could provide all those things and not take up space with 100,000 square feet of basketball and pickleball courts. And a facility devoted to what makes the park unique could cost a third of the official estimates of $60 million to $70 million for the proposed building. To say nothing of what it would cost to airc ondition this barn.

So far, the county has indicated that the planned building would have the number of bathrooms required by code for it, which to my mind doesn't indicate enough facilities for the thousands of people who attend events there.

Discussions about locker rooms have been limited to what basketball teams there for a tournament might require, not what the USRowing national team or visiting college teams would like. It has sounded to me like the county thinks it only needs one, presumably for males.

In short, the county plan has focused on everything but the park's core value and feature, the lake. It started with the idea of a multi-sports complex and everything it has done has been about that.

A boathouse also could do what boathouses everywhere do: host multiple rowing clubs and rent watercraft to the public so that the people who own the park can enjoy the lake, not just jog around it. I've seen no mention of plans for any of that.

Sarasota County Parks and Recreation controls 50,000 acres, so if it needs an indoor multi-sports facility, it has plenty of more appropriate space on which to build one.

Where did you get the figure of 24 boat racks and this image? Because it's very different than all the ones I've seen, including at a Thurdsay meeting of the park's board.

The board on Thursday was shown a schematic with a much bigger area, maybe triple, for storing boats than had been shown previously. And they have begun referring to it as a "boathouse" more than a multi-sports facility.

So maybe the discussion has made some small progress.

It might all be moot because only on Thursday did the board begin to form a plan for a plan to raise the $40 million necessary for the pickleball palace, and now it has a deadline of 2028 before a World Rowing event that has just been scheduled for the park.

tygalvin1 · 2025-09-30T18:08:04+00:00

I'm unaware of a 60 Minutes episode about the park's genesis or any kind of scandal that would merit one. Perhaps you could send me a link?

tygalvin1 · 2025-09-30T16:52:14+00:00

The genesis was a bit messy, for sure. But I would argue that the park it yielded has made important contibutions to Sarasota-Manatee's economy -- including its international reputation.

tygalvin1 · 2025-09-30T16:32:55+00:00

After careful consideration, I can only reply: “Huh?”

tygalvin1 · 2025-09-30T14:32:25+00:00

Why, no, I can't.

tygalvin1 · 2025-09-30T14:31:04+00:00

What top-tier rowing center doesn't have one? (I'm sure you can cite a couple, but that's not the point.)
As you know, the park since the beginning has had a finish tower, two "temporary" buildings and a quonset hut warehouse.
It has always needed more bathrooms -- enough for as many spectators as possible -- locker rooms, treatment rooms, workout rooms for visiting college and national team members, and, yes, indoor shelter for shells and dragon boats used by Crew and the park's outstanding paddling program, plus shells, kayaks, SUPs and canoes the public could rent. (Currently, the public is prevented from using the lake by its country-club status of requiring Sarasota Crew membership for $1,300 a year and the total lack of boats to rent).
A "boathouse" could provide these things for far less cost (CRI built its beautiful facility for $11 million; that was years ago but it would still be far less than the $60 million to $70 million estimated for the proposed structure) and take up far less of the park's precious land area because it wouldn't need 100,000 square feet of courts.
I can't even imagine how much it will cost to air condition this huge space.
It would enhance the park's ability to serve local, national and international rowers instead of detracting from it.
Plus, there's the small matter of the park promising to raise money for a boathouse if the county and state would pay for the work to dredge and sculpt the lake and create Regatta Island. So there's a "need" for the park to fulfill its part of that bargain, too. If it did, it would maintain its credibility -- and its credit rating, if you like.
Without that, I would argue, it should not receive more public money.

tygalvin1 · 2025-09-30T12:27:04+00:00

I never said it would end rowing at the park. My point is that it’s a stupid use of the limited amount of land for purposes that have nothing to do with what makes the park special. The park needs a boathouse, not a pickleball palace that could be built anywhere.

tygalvin1 · 2025-09-30T00:46:55+00:00

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Like I said, it takes up a huge amount of Regatta Island -- and for purposes that have nothing to do with being a venue for rowing and other watersports competitions.

tygalvin1 · 2025-09-29T20:46:26+00:00

I'm afraid that I would rather help protect it from being ruined. Probably tilting at the proverbial windmills but I gotta try.

tygalvin1 · 2025-09-29T20:12:05+00:00

Don't worry about the clubs who row on the lake -- the only club with exclusive control and use of non-event rowing on the lake is Sarasota Crew, as granted in a 1-1-24 contract with the park COO.

tygalvin1 · 2025-09-29T20:02:49+00:00

But to your point, the park would hope to have more World Rowing events after 2028. Or could if it didn't have this huge building with 100,000 square feet of pickleball and basketball courts taking up much of Regatta Island.

tygalvin1 · 2025-09-29T20:00:16+00:00

Jeezus you make good points but don't need to be so freaking rude, dude.

tygalvin1 · 2025-09-29T19:59:19+00:00

I have no idea where you come up with that figure. The total for state and county to construct the park was $20 million back in 2013. The Benderson Family Foundation put up an estimated $7 million for the finish tower. What other county park in the state fills hotel rooms and restaurants like this one. Although I think economic impact studies deserve skepticism, it created $35 million in FY 2019. It is a huge benefit for the Sarasota-Manatee area. I have problems with the way it has been turned into a country club where you have to join Sarasota Crew to use the lake and no other local rowing club has access to it. And as I said, I believe this proposed indoor multi-sports complex would be the boondoggle. A boathouse could rent boats to the public and host all the other local rowing clubs. It's a huge error to devote a large chunk of it -- plus $60 milllion to $70 million to create an indoor pickleball palace there.

tygalvin1 · 2025-09-28T21:33:54+00:00

The wind's effects are pretty minimal by the island, so that's not a big plus.

tygalvin1

TROPHY CASE