Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/348392
From "modern-invisible" to "century-old retro," the design of the city's new lift station, No. 87, might be called a study in whip- lash. Initially, the structure was proposed as the city's first all-underground facility. On Monday, July 14, the latest design was unveiled, and it harkens back to 1917, when the city purchased the Hover Arcade on the bayfront at the foot of Main Street for use as the first Sarasota City Hall. (Click here to see the architects' "flyover" video showing the proposed lift station structure.) The underground — and, therefore, invisible — design was favored initially to spare the res- idents of nearby condominiums and the rest of the environs the view of a city lift station in the park. But faulty engineering by the former contractor on the job, AECOM, doomed that idea, and the company walked off the project. A lawsuit ensued. Then another engineering firm — McKim & Creed — was brought in to review the "missile silo" school of design, and its team said that model would never survive the storm surge of a major hurricane. Since Lift Station 87 will handle roughly one-third of the city's sewage flow and all of Sarasota Memorial Hospital's effluent, city staff and McKim & Creed engineers decided to move all the critical equipment — generators, switchgear, odor controllers and much more McKim & Creed has unveiled a rendering of the updated design of Lift Station 87. It was created by Christie and Christie, architects. Image courtesy Christie and Christie DOES NOT SMELL LIKE CITY HALL AN HISTORICAL CITY ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN IS PROPOSED FOR THE LUKE WOOD PARK LIFT STATION IN SARASOTA By Stan Zimmerman City Editor