Lido Beach Pool and Dune Projects: What to Know for Fall 2026

Heavy equipment has been parked in the lot just south of the Lido Beach Pavilion since mid-September. A few hundred feet north, the 25-meter pool at 400 Ben Franklin Drive is fenced and empty. It has been that way since June 8. The working beach and the idle pool share a parking lot, and both are owned by the City of Sarasota. They're moving at different speeds because different money pays for them.

On Lido this fall, the projects built on federal dredge sand are on schedule. The one that depends on the city's everyday operating budget is waiting for the Nov. 3 election.

The sand was the federal part, and it's finished

The big job wrapped first. Your Observer reported that the $12 million federal renourishment was declared complete at a May 26 ribbon cutting. It restored 1.2 miles of shoreline and added an estimated 60 to 100 feet of beach. The city's project page says the dredging was aimed at stretches that had lost as much as 90 feet of beach to erosion.

The current dune work is the follow-up, and it draws on the same supply. According to the City of Sarasota's Sept. 8 announcement, the dune sand came from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' recent New Pass maintenance dredge, which also supplied the renourishment. So the material on the beach right now came out of a federal channel-maintenance job, and none of it had to be bought on the open market.

What the crews south of the Pavilion are building

The plan is modest compared with the renourishment. The city says crews will place about 3,000 cubic yards of sand to form 1.2 miles of dunes. Florida-friendly plants go in afterward to hold the sand, followed by new post-and-rope barriers and signs to keep foot traffic off the new dunes. The dunes run from the Pavilion south to Ted Sperling Park but stop short of it. Ted Sperling reopened in March 2025 after storm cleanup.

In April, Your Observer put the dune work at $1.2 million. It would raise the dunes to 6.6 feet and increase protection from a 10-year storm to a 25-year storm.

The day-to-day impact so far has been light. FOX 13 reported that crews are staging in the parking lot south of the Pavilion. Most of the beach, the Pavilion and the concessions stayed open, with only short stretches of shoreline near the sand pipelines closed for a while. The city has said public access to Lido Beach will stay open for the whole job. Lido Island Grill at the Pavilion is still listed with flexible hours of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The finish date depends on which source you read. The city's release calls it an expected 60-day project starting on or shortly after Sept. 21. Longboat Key News said the work should wrap by late November, weather permitting. The city's Engage Sarasota project page still lists dune-phase completion as "Early 2027." None of these sources says whether that later date reflects a new schedule or just a different definition of "done," such as counting the time for plants to take hold. A fair reading is that the heavy equipment could be gone around Thanksgiving, with work at the margins continuing after that.

The walkovers come after the dunes

Three beach walkovers are being replaced as a separate project that follows the dune work. Longboat Key News listed them as:

1. The walkover at the Pavilion
2. The one at the north end of the Pavilion parking lot
3. The North Lido access near the curve where John Ringling and Ben Franklin boulevards meet

The same report expected that work to finish by mid-2027. Your Observer's April story priced the three replacements at $840,000. Expect the access points you use most to change twice. First, rope and plantings go in around the new dunes. Later, the walkovers themselves get rebuilt.

The pool runs on a different budget

The pool is where the pattern breaks. The Lido Beach Pool is the last surviving piece of the Lido Beach Casino, which opened in 1940. The city's facility page says it is closed until further notice and gives no projected reopening date.

In August, a resident wrote to the City Commission asking about the closure, and City Manager Karie Friling answered by email. The Sarasota 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."

The vote in question is Amendment 3, a statewide property tax measure on the Nov. 3 ballot that needs 60% approval to pass. The News Leader reported that property tax revenue makes up an estimated 52% of the city's General Fund for fiscal 2027, or $59,225,353. City staff estimate that if the amendment passes, the city would lose $3.2 million in fiscal 2028 and another $2.3 million in fiscal 2029. The pool depends on that General Fund. The sand and the dunes drew on a federal renourishment and an Army Corps dredge.

The pool's own numbers show why it comes up whenever the budget gets tight. The city's briefing document, as the News Leader reported it, shows these figures:

The repair list covers electrical upgrades, resurfacing, a heater/chiller and a vacuum. Ticket sales cover less than a tenth of what the pool costs to run each year, so it has never paid for itself. Like most public pools, it's a service the city funds. Even if the city approved repairs the week after the election, a five-to-six-month job would run into spring 2027. The resident who wrote in called the pool "a vital piece of Sarasota's tourism and community life" and said it is usually full of lap swimmers.

Where to swim laps until then

The nearest options are on the mainland, and one of them is closed for the season.

Arlington Park Aquatic Complex, 2650 Waldemere St. This City of Sarasota pool is the closest year-round substitute. It has a 50-meter lap pool, morning lap swim and water walking Monday through Friday from 8 to 10 a.m., and limited-lane lap swim weekdays from 3 to 7 p.m. It's closed Sundays. A day pass costs the same as Lido did, $4 for adults and $2 for youth 17 and under and seniors 55 and up, but you'll need a City recreation account. The city lists different hours on different pages, so call before your first visit.

Selby Aquatic Center at Potter Park, 8501 Potter Park Dr. Sarasota Sharks, Inc. runs this pool, which has a 50-meter pool and a 25-meter warm-up pool. Adult open swim and lap swim, for ages 18 and up, usually runs Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. It costs $9 a visit or $85 a month, and lanes are shared. Swim meets close it on Saturdays Oct. 24 and 31, Nov. 7 and 14, and Dec. 12. Some weeks, including Oct. 19 to 24, weekday hours shift to 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Robert L. Taylor Community Complex, 1845 34th Street. Its pool closes October through May, and the last Saturday of its 2026 season was Sept. 26. It won't help until next summer.

The rest of the fall calendar is on schedule

Just across the bridge on St. Armands, the calendar hasn't slipped. The St. Armands Fall Festival of the Arts runs Oct. 17 and 18 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free. The St. Armands Circle Association lists Fright Night on Oct. 31, Ferraris on the Circle on Nov. 7, and the Art Festival & Sidewalk Sale on Nov. 14 and 15. If the dune crews keep to the city's 60-day estimate, the staging lot south of the Pavilion should be clearing around the time of the November art festival. The pool's next step will depend on what the city decides after the Nov. 3 results.

If you own on Lido and want to talk through what the new dunes, the walkover work or the pool decision could mean for your property, Evan Weber keeps up with these projects and is happy to share what he's seeing on the island. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.