CAUSEWAY PARK: Beneath Ringling bridge, it’s a renaming and dedication
Causeway Park was renamed Friday after the late wife of a Sarasota man who donated playground equipment and other amenities to improve it.
Members of the City Commission attended a grand opening of the park, celebrating its new name: Eloise Werlin Causeway Park.
The small patch of grassy area at the base of the John Ringling Causeway now features playground equipment, shades, and new benches courtesy of Ernest “Doc” Werlin, who donated more than $125,000 in improvements.
Werlin, a Herald-Tribune finance columnist, said his late wife used to enjoy the park. He joined city officials there for the grand opening.
“It fulfills a dream of mine to honor my wife and enrich our community,” Werlin said. “I’m hoping very much that the park will encourage others to make similar efforts at building our community.”
Sarasota parks and recreation staff worked with Werlin to plan the improvements, and City Manager Tom Barwin endorsed the effort, saying the small park had long needed some work.
Werlin also set up a $50,000 endowment with money to pay for maintaining the park in the future. It was a precaution inspired by past gifts to the city’s parks that ultimately proved costly to maintain.
Werlin said he chose Causeway Park in part because he lives nearby, and because it is small enough that he could make a difference in it.
Originally published in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune
