Most changes at the Celery Fields this fall are happening along its edges. The marsh and boardwalks at the center look the way they always have. Sarasota Audubon and Big Waters Land Trust set Saturday, Oct. 24, as the public opening day for the 11-acre Southeast Quad, which has new walking paths, a one-acre pond and a gazebo overlooking it. Work on a second parcel is scheduled to start this fall. Just up Raymond Road, Sarasota County is looking into buying a farm instead of approving another housing plan there.
Taken together, the Celery Fields is gaining parkland on its western side, one parcel at a time. Land that was first set aside as a buffer is turning into places people can actually visit, and decisions on one parcel next door are still pending.
The First Buffer Is Becoming a Destination
The Quads are three parcels next to the Celery Fields, about 33 acres in total. The Sarasota County Board of Commissioners put a perpetual conservation easement on them. It went to Big Waters Land Trust, then called the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast. At the same time, the county signed a management agreement with Sarasota Audubon to rewild and maintain the land. SRQ Magazine reported the stated goals: improve wildlife habitat, buffer the Celery Fields from the industrial uses and I-75 to the west, and allow low-impact public access.
The Southeast Quad is the first parcel to finish. According to Sarasota Audubon's project page, its 11 acres now include:
- More than 21,000 native plants and trees, finished in July 2026
- Walking paths laid out across the parcel
- A one-acre pond, which has already drawn more than a dozen species of wading birds
- A gazebo overlooking the pond
Donations covering the $2.6 million cost were in hand by spring 2025, and the plantings began that July. The pond started drawing birds before the public opening. The Southwest Quad hasn't been rebuilt yet, but Audubon reports that a pair of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks nested there and hatched 20 young. Wildlife is already using the parcels around the main marsh, even before the trails reach them.
For a sense of scale, Big Waters Land Trust says more than 240 bird species have been recorded at the Celery Fields. The Southeast Quad gives birds more habitat, and visitors a quieter place to see them, along the side of the property facing the interstate.
Three Parcels, Three Different Clocks
The three Quads are on separate schedules, and only the first has a finish date. Here is where each one stands as of late October 2026, based on Sarasota Audubon's published plans.
| Parcel | What's planned or built | Cost | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southeast Quad | 11 acres, native plantings, pond, gazebo, walking paths | $2.6 million | Public opening set for Oct. 24, 2026 |
| Southwest Quad | Parking lot, restrooms, children's natural play area, flex lawn, walking paths, shaded seating, more plantings | About $3 million | Work scheduled to begin fall 2026 |
| Northeast Quad | Perimeter trees and shrubs, a walking path, benches | Not published | Begins after the Southwest Quad is complete |
The Southwest Quad brings the biggest change in how people will use the area. It's planned as a family space for passive recreation and nature play. The parking lot and restrooms will change how people arrive. The play area and flex lawn are features the Celery Fields has never had. The Sarasota News Leader reported that a $1 million matching-grant opportunity is supporting this next phase, with backing from the Barancik Foundation, the Gulf Coast Community Foundation and local philanthropic families.
No opening date has been announced for the Southwest Quad. An earlier donor update from Big Waters had projected completion by May 2026. Audubon's newer page says work begins this fall, so the earlier timeline no longer applies.
Upkeep continues after construction. Audubon estimates that maintaining all three Quads once they're finished will cost $50,000 to $75,000 a year, and it's building a maintenance fund to cover that. That figure shows the long-term commitment behind each new parcel.
The Edge Still Being Decided Is on Raymond Road
The Quads are protected by the easement. The land north along Raymond Road isn't, and that is where the area's other open question sits.
Your Observer reported on Oct. 15 that national homebuilder D.R. Horton is seeking to develop a site of more than 50 acres near the Celery Fields, known as the Smith farm. The property has been used for agriculture and is zoned Open Use Rural, which allows one unit per 10 acres. The timeline, as the Observer reported it:
- In 2025, commissioners denied rezoning requests for a 170-unit plan and then a 126-unit plan on the site.
- In May 2026, D.R. Horton asked for a pre-application conference on an 864-unit multifamily project under Florida's Live Local Act.
- The county said it wouldn't process that application under the property's current zoning, and in June the company filed a lawsuit.
- At the Oct. 6 commission meeting, D.R. Horton offered to resolve the litigation if it could build the original 126-lot single-family subdivision.
The county is now looking at a different option, buying the land outright. The Observer reported that a purchase could cost at least $3 million. A purchase had come up during an earlier mediation round, and the company rejected it then. Sarasota County Attorney Joshua Moye told the board, as quoted by Your Observer:
"[It] doesn't mean we can't go back. That was about a year ago."
According to a letter from its attorney reported in the same article, D.R. Horton remains confident it will win the lawsuit and would then build the 864-unit project with 65-foot buildings. Until the litigation is concluded, the company says it is still open to the 126-lot plan. The case is one of at least six that developers and landowners have filed against the county over its Live Local Act decisions, according to the Business Observer.
Nothing has been decided yet. For anyone who walks the Celery Fields regularly, the outcome on Raymond Road is the remaining open question about what surrounds the park, since the Quads are already locked in by the easement.
Planning a Visit Around the New Season
The Southeast Quad's opening date falls just as the Sarasota Audubon Nature Center begins its season. The Nature Center runs October through May. Audubon's summer 2026 newsletter says it's open weekends from 9 a.m. to noon in October and then daily starting in November. It's at 999 Center Road.
Sarasota County's Celery Fields facility listing gives these details for the wider property:
- Hours are 6 a.m. to sunset
- An unpaved trail, plus boardwalks with observation decks
- A restroom on site
- Dogs are allowed on a leash
- Bicycling, birding and fishing are all listed activities
Here's a practical way to fit the new parcel into a regular walk. Start at the Nature Center on a November morning, when it's open daily. Do the familiar boardwalk loop, then head to the Southeast Quad and end at the gazebo above the pond. That's where the wading birds have been gathering since before the public opening. Until the Southwest Quad gets its own parking lot and restrooms, the existing facilities at the main property are the base for all of it.
If you've been bringing visiting family to the Celery Fields for years, this season gives you somewhere new to take them. If you live nearby, keep an eye on the two parcels still in progress. Construction on the Southwest Quad is scheduled to begin this fall, and the county is considering a purchase on Raymond Road.
If the Celery Fields is part of your weekly routine and you're wondering how the changes along its edges might affect the homes nearby, Kelly Rosenberg is glad to talk it through. Call Kelly for a market consultation, or request a personalized home valuation that accounts for what's changing just past your back door.
