Community
Latest reporting from the Community desk.
Community
Latest reporting from the Community desk.
Community
Latest reporting from the Community desk.
Community
Sarasota's Fruitville Library reopens Oct. 15 after $28M renovation
Sarasota County's Fruitville Library reopens Thursday, Oct. 15, after a nearly $28 million renovation, with full services available but several new spaces and a 30,000-square-foot History Center still under construction.
Community
Diverse Fest expands across Harvest campus for fourth year
Sarasota's fourth annual Diverse Fest expands to both buildings at the Harvest campus on Saturday, Oct. 10, with more than 50 vendors, food trucks, live music, new workshops and free family activities after drawing about 1,500 attendees last year.
Sarasota, FL
83°F
Sunny
Feels like 87° · 0% rain
TueSunny88°F0%
WedSunny89°F0%
ThuSunny90°F22%
FriSunny88°F41%
SatIsolated Showers And Thunderstorms85°F45%
SunIsolated Showers And Thunderstorms83°F42%
MonIsolated Showers And Thunderstorms84°F32%
Community
Sarasota's Fruitville Library reopens Oct. 15 after $28M renovation
Sarasota County's Fruitville Library reopens Thursday, Oct. 15, after a nearly $28 million renovation, with full services available but several new spaces and a 30,000-square-foot History Center still under construction.
Sarasota, FL
83°F
Sunny
Feels like 87° · 0% rain
TueSunny88°F0%
WedSunny89°F0%
ThuSunny90°F22%
FriSunny88°F41%
SatIsolated Showers And Thunderstorms85°F45%
SunIsolated Showers And Thunderstorms83°F42%
MonIsolated Showers And Thunderstorms84°F32%
Community
Sarasota's Fruitville Library reopens Oct. 15 after $28M renovation
Sarasota County's Fruitville Library reopens Thursday, Oct. 15, after a nearly $28 million renovation, with full services available but several new spaces and a 30,000-square-foot History Center still under construction.
Sarasota, FL
83°F
Sunny
Feels like 87° · 0% rain
TueSunny88°F0%
WedSunny89°F0%
ThuSunny90°F22%
FriSunny88°F41%
SatIsolated Showers And Thunderstorms85°F45%
SunIsolated Showers And Thunderstorms83°F42%
MonIsolated Showers And Thunderstorms84°F32%
Community
Sarasota rent benchmark jumps 11.7% while neighbors decline
The federal two-bedroom Fair Market Rent benchmark for the Sarasota metro area rose 11.7% to $2,188 for fiscal year 2027, the steepest increase among six Florida metros examined, while Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Tampa saw their benchmarks decline.
Community
Sarasota craft festival returns to Five Points Park for 30th year
The 30th Annual Downtown Sarasota Craft Festival runs Oct. 17-18 at Selby Five Points Park with free admission, featuring juried handmade crafts and a Green Market.
Community
Sarasota launches First Fridays market at Arlington Park
The City of Sarasota debuted a free community market along the walking trail at Arlington Park on Oct. 2, with organizers seeking more vendors ahead of planned November and December editions.
Community
Jaguar car show marks 40th year at St. Armands Circle
The Sun Coast Jaguar Club's 40th Annual Concours d'Elegance returns to St. Armands Circle Park on Oct. 10 with free admission, featuring antique, classic and modified Jaguars across a two-day event.
Community
Sarasota approves $92,000 for Fresh Fridays' sixth season
Downtown Sarasota's Fresh Fridays pedestrian event series returns for a sixth season on Friday, Oct. 2, with a yacht rock theme, backed by a $92,000 grant from the Downtown Improvement District.
Community
Sarasota rejects South Lido park takeover over $2.3M cost
Sarasota's city staff recommended against taking over Ted Sperling Park at South Lido from the county after a cost analysis found the move would require $663,921 upfront and more than $1.7 million a year, leaving the county holding a problem property with no resolution before a 2028 interlocal agreement deadline.
Community
Sarasota surveys Gulf Gate homeowners on $500 stormwater assessment
Sarasota County commissioners voted unanimously to survey about 2,000 Gulf Gate Estates property owners on whether they would accept $300–$500 annual assessments for 20 years to fund the county's purchase and conversion of the shuttered Gulf Gate Golf Course into a stormwater facility, but a wide gap between the developer's $14.6 million asking price and county appraisals complicates the deal.
Community
Sarasota's Aspire on 10th opens with 47 attainable units
Aspire on 10th, a 157-unit apartment complex in Sarasota's Rosemary District, held its grand opening Sept. 24 with 47 units set aside at below-market rents under Florida's Live Local Act.
Community
Rescued Siesta Key dolphin Ginger becomes grandmother in Sarasota Bay
Ginger, a bottlenose dolphin rescued from Siesta Key as a sick three-year-old and rehabilitated at Mote Marine Laboratory, is a grandmother after researchers spotted her daughter Nori's first calf in Sarasota Bay in August, marking the fifth known generation of the family tracked by the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program.
Community
Sarasota libraries launch otter-themed kids reading program
Sarasota County Libraries launches Little Otter's Big Reading Adventure on Sept. 28, replacing 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten with a 20-log reading program for children ages 0 to 6, kicking off with a live Mote Marine otter demonstration streamed to library branches.
Community
Sarasota advances $50,000 sale of toxic Newtown brownfield
The Sarasota City Commission voted unanimously on Sept. 8 to advance the $50,000 sale and rezoning of the contaminated Marian Anderson Place brownfield in Newtown, with the developer bearing an estimated $4.5 million cleanup cost, while commissioners rewrote pollution protections on the dais and left a data center question unresolved.
Community
Ringling College grad designs 2026 Ripley's book cover
Ringling College of Art and Design alumna Julia Louisa Moellman, a 2014 graduate and senior graphic designer at Ripley's, designed the cover of the franchise's 2026 annual book, Wired Into Weird.
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©2026 The Sarasota Record
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