CORTEZ – The Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage (FISH) board unanimously approved a proposal by Allen Garner to complete a public accessibility project at the FISH Preserve at the eastern edge of the historic fishing village.
The project will fulfill the conditions of a grant from the Barancik Foundation.
Garner, a retired landscape architect with more than 40 years of experience, will:
• Design and construct two new bridges. One of the bridges will be sufficiently strong and sized to accommodate both pedestrians and maintenance vehicles. The second will be for foot traffic.
• Create and grade 12,000 square feet of shell trails.
• Build an information kiosk, which will be a relocatable structure.
• Create and install signage, including a FISH Preserve entrance sign, four education signs, four orientation signs and 12 trail markers.
• Build two picnic shelters.
• Provide and install four picnic tables and six benches.
• Provide construction support for the completion of the Bradenton Kiwanis-funded bridge.
“I will be starting work in mid-July and I expect to have this all done in about six months,” Garner said.
The total budget for the project is $180,000, including $165,000 of grant funding with FISH providing the additional $15,000. The grant funds were awarded on Feb. 9.
According to FISH Treasurer Jane von Hahmann, it is a two-year grant with a report on progress due by March 2025.
According to the grant application, “This project is both environmental and educational. Educational signage along the trails will share the history and biology of this coastal habitat, providing information to visitors that will enhance their understanding of local flora and fauna, and provide context on why this land was important to save.”
In 2000, FISH and community members came together in a grassroots effort to raise the money to purchase 95 acres of land immediately adjacent to the village. The parcel now is one of the only undeveloped waterfront properties on Sarasota Bay. The habitat supports one of the last working waterfronts in Florida.
