Walk south from the Lido Beach Pavilion this week and the beach looks different. A new dune runs along the south end of the island, and post-and-rope lines now mark the beach crossings. Crews are putting plants into the sand. Back at the Pavilion, the 25-meter pool that has sat beside the Gulf since 1940 is closed, and nobody has given a reopening date.
The new dune line starts at the Pavilion, the same building as the pool. The dune is nearly done because its sand was already on the beach and the city had approved the work. The pool is waiting on a decision the city has tied to a statewide vote.
The dune was built from sand already on the beach
The dune work started with a stockpile. During the recent New Pass Maintenance Dredging Project, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredged roughly 3,000 cubic yards of beach-compatible sand and left it in a pile on the beach near monument R-41. The city's job was to spread and grade that sand into a permitted dune, plant it, and protect the beach access points. Sarasota's Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations laid out those steps in its project update.
The City of Sarasota announced the project on Sept. 8, with work starting on or shortly after Sept. 21 and an expected length of 60 days. The plan covered 1.2 miles of dune with native planting, and beach access stayed open throughout. The new feature adds 2.5 feet of dune on top of the existing 4-foot beach berm, between monuments R-37 and R-44 on the southern part of Lido Key. The contractor started at the north end because there were turtle nests to the south, and turtle monitoring is part of the contract.
Here is where things stood as of Oct. 14, according to the CCNA update:
- Sand placed and graded
- Post-and-cable crossovers installed at beach access points
- Signage installed
- Planting underway
The city's Engage Sarasota project page is a little more cautious. It still lists completion as "Early 2027," which is later than the 60 days in the September release. It describes the new dune system as running from the Lido Beach Pavilion to the southern residential properties. Either way, the sand is already in place. What remains is planting and finishing work.
The size of the job explains the speed. The larger renourishment earlier this year was planned at roughly 200,000 to 300,000 cubic yards of sand, aimed at stretches that had lost up to 90 feet of beach. WWSB reported that the $12 million, 1.2-mile project was finished on May 26. The fall dune uses about 3,000 cubic yards, a small fraction of that volume, and the sand was already on the beach before the contractor arrived in September.
The pool's decision is in voters' hands
The Lido Pool closed on June 8, a city communications specialist told The Sarasota News Leader. The pool at 400 Ben Franklin Drive is the last remaining piece of the historic Lido Beach Casino, which opened in 1940. A resident wrote to the city commission in August asking what would happen next. City Manager Karie Friling answered by email, and the News Leader reported her reply:
"any future decisions regarding next steps and/or improvements to the [Lido] pool are on hold until after the November referendum results."
That referendum is Amendment 3 on the Nov. 3 ballot. The Florida Department of State's summary says the amendment would:
- raise the homestead exemption for non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028
- lower the cap on yearly assessment increases for non-homestead property from 10% to 5%
- limit what counties and cities may spend property-tax revenue on
The Florida Chamber notes that it needs at least 60% of the votes cast on the question to pass.
According to the News Leader, property taxes make up an estimated 52%, or $59,225,353, of the city's General Fund for fiscal 2027. City staff estimated that if the amendment passes, Sarasota would lose $3.2 million in revenue in fiscal 2028 and another $2.3 million in fiscal 2029.
The city's briefing on the pool explains why a budget this tight puts it on hold. The repair list and the operating figures are below:
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Electrical overhaul | $103,000 |
| Resurfacing | $187,000 |
| Heater and chiller | $129,000 |
| Pool vacuum | $10,000 |
| Repair total | $429,000 |
| Average annual operating expense | $148,000 |
| Average annual user revenue | $11,900 |
| Average passes sold per year | 4,760 |
Admission was $4 for adults and $2 for youth and seniors. The pool was open Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. At those numbers, ticket sales covered about 8% of the cost of running the pool, and the city paid the other $136,000 or so each year. That makes the pool exactly the kind of service a General Fund supports, and the General Fund is what Amendment 3 would shrink. The resident who wrote to the commission called it "one of only three public beachfront pools in the area" and said she sees it "filled with lap swimmers and community members."
The timing matters for this winter. The briefing estimates five to six months of work once funding is secured. Even if the city made a funding decision soon after the Nov. 3 results, the work would last into spring. The city's Lido Beach Pool and Pavilion page lists the pool as closed until further notice, with no projected reopening date.
This post reports what the ballot measure says and how the city has described its budget. It is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Questions about how Amendment 3 would affect your own property taxes belong with a qualified tax professional.
What still works at the Pavilion
The rest of the Pavilion is running normally. The city's page lists free parking next to the beach and restrooms open daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. The concession is still Lido Island Grill, which the city describes as locally owned by Chef Laszlo and his wife and daughters. The city lists regular hours of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., depending on beach activity. A February guide from Visit Sarasota County gave a 5 p.m. close, so on a slow weekday the grill may close earlier than the city's listing says.
Off Ted Sperling Park, the state has the final say
The same pattern shows up at the south tip of the island. On Sept. 22, Sarasota County commissioners told staff to ask the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to approve a slow-speed, minimum-wake zone near Ted Sperling Park. Your Observer reported on Sept. 27 that the request was still pending. The paper also reported that an idle-speed, no-wake ordinance the county had adopted earlier cannot be enforced without FWC approval.
That makes three projects on one stretch of island. The dune, the only one of the three the city could approve and carry out by itself, is nearly finished. Repairs to the pool depend on the Nov. 3 results, and FWC decides on the boating zone.
The beach calendar through December
Events on the sand go ahead regardless of what happens with the pool:
- Nov. 6–8: The 16th Ranse Classic, a beach-volleyball fundraiser at Lido Beach, according to Sarasota County Parks' events guide.
- Nov. 10: Lido Key Residents Association meet-and-greet, per the LKRA calendar.
- Nov. 21: LKRA resident meeting at Lido Beach Resort.
- Dec. 8: LKRA meet-and-greet at Lido Beach Resort.
- Dec. 20, 7 a.m.: A free Winter Solstice Celebration at Lido Beach, listed by the county.
The Nov. 21 LKRA meeting is the first resident meeting on the calendar after the Nov. 3 results. The Solstice Celebration on Dec. 20 is the first event on the list scheduled after the city's original 60-day window for the dune work runs out.
If you'd like to talk through how projects like the new dunes or a long pool closure tend to affect daily life near Ben Franklin Drive, Bruce Myer is glad to share what we're seeing on Lido Key. Talk with us about your real estate plans.
