Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/180498
TWO MORE YEARS An aerial map shows the location of Luke Wood Park just outside downtown Sarasota. Image from Google Maps THE SCHEDULE CALLS FOR NEW LIFT STATION 87 IN SARASOTA TO BE OPERATIONAL BY AUGUST 2015 By Stan Zimmerman City Editor As promised, the City of Sarasota and contractor McKim & Creed held a biweekly meeting on Monday, Sept. 23, to keep each other on the same page regarding the status of Lift Station 87. One important page was the project schedule. Robert Garland, a vice president with the firm, distributed the timeline during that meeting. It indicates everything will be wrapped up by Halloween 2015. That includes demolition of the "star-crossed" Lift Station 7, where repeated spills demonstrated the need for a new facility. The new lift station — dubbed Lift Station 87 — is located in Luke Wood Park, where U.S. 41 and U.S. 301 join just south of downtown Sarasota. It is designed to have four pumps buried deep underground to handle the usual flow of more than 2 million gallons of sewage daily. However, in extreme weather events, such as the substantial rainfall this week, the sanitary system will handle volumes four times the daily load. Garland said one pump alone could not deal with that capacity, so at any one time, two pumps must be operational. "The design intent is, with all four pumps in both wet wells, we can cope with maximum flow."