Background
The City views the Marian Anderson site as a key parcel and transformational redevelopment opportunity for economic growth within the Newtown community and the City at large. The City has invested many resources to remediate the brownfield conditions and study the site's conditions and potential for development. The Marian Anderson Place site was acquired by the City of Sarasota in April 1944. The Site operated as an unlicensed landfill until the early 1960's; excavated areas were filled with debris an covered with dirt from the site. Although discontinued in the 1960's, debris is still present from just below land surface to depths of up to 12 feet, and the site's soil an groundwater contain levels of heavy metals and other organic compounds. Approximately 17 different studies and plans have substantiated the environmental issues at the location, and the City has been working for over two decades to redevelop the brownfield into a community asset.