Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/329100
FDOT officials have made the diverging dia- mond interchange a priority. Although this type of interchange has been built elsewhere — including Missouri, where the first U.S. version appeared in 2009 — and it is part of a new initiative to transform interstate traffic patterns, the I-75 diverging diamond would be the first of its kind in Florida. 'CORPORATE WELFARE' The high-profile rowing park made the most waves June 5. Detert said that when she helped secure $5 million for Benderson Park facilities in 2013, she did not anticipate boosters returning this year to seek $11 million more. "I didn't expect to see you back — ever," Detert recalled tell- ing Benderson Park representatives. Legislators nixed the 2014 request. Overall, the park has received $19.5 in county fund- ing and $10 million in state grants, and it has yet to show evidence it is pulling in private donations, as Paul Blackketter, president of the nonprofit management organization, has been promising Sarasota and Manatee county officials since early 2013. "This is just starting to look like too much corporate welfare to me," Detert added. One reason for local legislators' waning sup- port of the project, Detert pointed out, is the fact that the nonprofit — Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates Inc. (SANCA) — failed earlier this spring to file the nec- essary paperwork with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to retain its 501(c)(3) status. It quickly corrected that oversight after the matter became public. Detert said there is still "soft support" for the facility among legislators, but she believes the project has to show more "accountability," and SANCA "needs to get its act together." Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, told the audience he supports Benderson's rowing park plans. "It will bring an economic impact felt for decades to come." But he pointed out that, having observed a lack of diversity among participants when he recently attended an event at the park, he would like to see that situation reversed. He suggested an outreach effort to enable young black men and women in the area to learn about programs at the park. "When we went to the rowing center, we didn't see any of us," said Rouson, who is black. % An illustration shows how a diverging diamond interchange would be created for University Parkway at Interstate 75. Image courtesy Sarasota County Sarasota News Leader June 13, 2014 Page 24