Diabetes and Neuropathy Treatment in Fruitville, FL

April 12, 2022 – MD Now Urgent Care, the largest and fastest growing urgent care provider in Florida, is opening its first ever clinic in Sarasota, Florida. The state-of-the-art clinic is located at Fruitville Commons on Fruitville Road next to Cooper’s Hawk restaurant. Just six miles from downtown Sarasota, the MD Now Fruitville location is set to provide superior healthcare services to Sarasota and the surrounding communities.

This is MD Now’s second new clinic to open in 2022, opening approximately a month after a new location on Donald Ross Road in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. MD Now Urgent Care is committed to providing superior healthcare to every patient and strives to accommodate all a patient’s healthcare needs in one convenient trip. The newest clinic, located at 3110 Fruitville Commons Boulevard #101, Sarasota, Florida, is another addition to an expanding footprint on the West Coast of Florida.

The new Sarasota clinic contains 3,000 square feet of modern technology and medical equipment to make diagnosing and treating patients a comfortable and efficient process. The physician-led team of healthcare professionals at the Fruitville location is available 365 days of the year for the community’s healthcare needs.

Some of the services to be provided at the clinic include:

“Bringing superior healthcare services to the west coast of Florida has been our goal for as long as we have been in business. As we work hard to realize that goal, we are bringing together talented medical professionals and building trust with the communities where we work,” noted Kimberly Stukenborg, President & Chief Operating Officer at MD Now. “I’m proud of the healthcare professionals at the new Fruitville clinic for being such a spectacular team. They are ready to provide the superior healthcare we’ve promised to the Sarasota community.”

To serve patients in the Sarasota area at their convenience, the new Fruitville clinic will be open 365 days a year, including weekends and holidays, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Sunday.

No appointment is necessary, just walk in – to the new Fruitville clinic for Superior Healthcare Right Now.

About MD Now® Urgent Care

MD Now Urgent Care is Florida’s largest urgent care operator with 60 state-of-the-art clinics conveniently located across Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, Indian River, Lee and Manatee Counties. MD Now Urgent Care’s physician-led team of healthcare professionals provide superior healthcare through a comprehensive lineup of urgent care, preventative healthcare, and occupational health services seven days a week, 365 days a year. MD Now Urgent Care is proud to be affiliated with HCA Florida Healthcare. For more information, visit www.MDNOW.com.

SARASOTA — Sarasota Orchestra has agreed to buy a 32-acre undeveloped site on Fruitville Road between Cattlemen Road and Honore Avenue for a new performance venue, the organization says in a statement released today.

The land at 5701 Fruitville Road is owned by Wal-Mart Stores East LP of Bentonville, Arkansas and is valued by the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s office at $7.335 million. The parcel, immediately west of a Sam's Club retail store owned by the same company, is zoned for planned commerce use.

Single-family housing tracts border the northern boundary of the property.

No purchase price was disclosed, though private philanthropy has already been fully raised by Sarasota Orchestra, the news release said.

“We’re honored to be part of the growing momentum to elevate the area’s artistic and musical experiences, and to play an even greater role in contributing to the cultural, economic, educational and quality of life conditions of the greater Sarasota-Manatee area,” Sarasota Orchestra President and CEO Joseph McKenna says in a prepared statement. “Our plans for this dynamic musical destination will bring to the community something it’s never had – a concert hall with outstanding acoustics that will transform the experience for patrons of our orchestra and the many local performing arts groups that will share our stage. This treasured asset will expand our region’s cultural capacity for the next century.”

Orchestra leaders, the release says, plan to conduct workshops with neighborhoods, civic leaders and arts groups in assembling a plan for the land. The orchestra says the site’s proximity to Interstate 75 will increase accessibility for patrons in Sarasota County and elsewhere.

“This is a pivotal moment in the Orchestra’s 73-year history, representing a bold, civic-minded vision about our future and our potential to enrich lives throughout the greater Sarasota area and beyond,” says Tom Ryan, chair of the Sarasota Orchestra’s board of directors. “Schedule limitations at existing venues place extraordinary burdens on cultural organizations both now and into the future. The opportunity to ease this pressure with well-designed acoustic space for music organizations will enhance and improve our region’s reputation as a premier destination for arts and culture in Florida.”

In addition to its main concert hall, the site is also expected to allow for room to construct education facilities, event and outdoor space as well.

In September, McKenna said the group had ruled out all sites within city limits and is focusing its search for a new home elsewhere in Sarasota County.

Since 2019, the orchestra had identified Payne Park as the lone viable site for a new music hall within city limits as the organization plans to relocate from its current primary venue on the bayfront. Although the city initially rejected a proposal to use seven acres in Payne Park for an orchestra facility, the City Commission reversed course last year, empowering staff to include parkland in its negotiations with McKenna.

In June 2020, McKenna said the orchestra considered Payne Park to be “off the table,” citing legal issues and questioning the city’s openness to allowing the orchestra to use a portion of the property. At the time, city officials expressed optimism the orchestra was still willing to negotiate.

Now that the Sarasota Orchestra has closed on its 32-acre site on Fruitville Road, just west of Interstate 75, the 75-year-old organization is developing plans to build a new music center, a project intended to serve its needs for the next 100 years.

Last week, the orchestra completed the $14 million purchase from Wal-Mart Stores East LP of a vacant 32-acre site at 5701 Fruitville Road. It was a cash purchase, leaving the orchestra free to continue its fundraising feasibility study, which will guide its plans to design and build an 1,800-seat concert hall to specifically showcase acoustic music. Plans also include a 700-seat flexible-use performance space, multiple rehearsal and practice rooms, music storage and office space.

It will be one of only four concert halls for acoustic music in Florida, and the first on the Gulf Coast, joining New World Center in Miami Beach, Knight Concert Hall in Miami and Steinmetz Hall in Orlando.

The orchestra had first considered building a new facility in Payne Park near downtown, but once that was determined to be untenable it launched the search for a new site.

“There were several criteria. One was to be able to have enough acreage to achieve long-term goals,” says Orchestra President and CEO Joe McKenna. "Another was the ability to build up to 110 feet in order to create a concert hall. You need cubic volume of space to create that acoustic, and that's really done by the width and height of the building.”

A conditional rezoning of the property will allow the orchestra to build to its desired height, which McKenna says is ideal for acoustical music.

The orchestra expects to finalize its project scope and timeline later this year, following the completion of a fundraising feasibility study, which is underway and will continue through mid-year.

The location of the inland site less than a mile west of I-75 also provides the benefit of protection from severe weather and more convenient access to the growth of the two-county area.

“It was with an eye toward removing the vulnerability that is associated with coastal locations. This particular site on Fruitville Road is a fantastic site. It's a great location,” McKenna says. "It really is the crossroads of the Sarasota-Manatee region as we look out over the next 25, 50 and 75 years. We're really excited at the prospect of a music center for the region that would be home to the orchestra, but also provide space for other music organizations in particular that are so in need of both rehearsal space and performance space.”

Five-year process

Currently the orchestra is using six venues in order to put together its annual schedule.

McKenna says owning and controlling its own facility will allow it to prioritize its schedule while still accommodating other music organizations.

“The orchestra is a highly collaborative enterprise. That won't change,” McKenna says. “We know that there are other music organizations that need performance space and others that might even need rehearsal space. This makes it more efficient to have an acoustical environment that's designed for music and then to really have that calendar flexibility. Our community has evolved and there's a need for a new venue like this.”

Concurrent with the fundraising feasibility study, the first step toward building the music center is hiring an acoustician and theater planner to provide the functional requirements to the project architect once selected. McKenna says that could occur by the end of the year. Once it is determined how much the orchestra can expect to raise via philanthropic efforts, the project cost can be determined and parameters provided to the architect.

The process from beginning of design to completion, he says, is five years.

“This analysis work will help us arrive at a campaign objective, and then the campaign timeline and all of the related details,” McKenna says. “These are once in a generation kind of projects. It's common for this kind of rigorous process to result in the outcome that you want, which is a first-class concept.”

The concept will include more than one-third of the site set aside and preserved for passive use. “Our vision is that about 12 acres would be held back for water features and natural areas so it has a really good sense of place,” McKenna says.

That place will be just more than six miles east of its current primary venue on Sarasota Bay, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. While removed from the downtown environment, the location is near the growing University Town Center area west of I-75 and Fruitville Commons east of the interstate just south of Lakewood Ranch.

The location will allow the orchestra to tap into the population growth from North Port through Manatee County.

“One of the things that really excites the orchestra about this is we see our region evolving and developing,” McKenna says. “When you think about what the Sarasota area will be, this location is really at the crossroads straddling the Sarasota-Manatee county line. “It will be accessible for audiences that are coming from the north, the south and the east, while at the same time we haven't disconnected from what has been our historical base.”

Room for everybody

The orchestra’s ambitions come during the Sarasota Performing Arts Center Foundation’s philanthropic campaign to raise funds for its proposed $275 million-plus facility at The Bay, to replace the Van Wezel as the city’s primary theater.

Funding for the SPAC must be at least 50% private.

McKenna says a budget has not yet been determined for the new music center, but that there is room among the philanthropic community for both campaigns to progress simultaneously.

At 1,741 seats, the Steinmetz Center in Orlando, which opened in 2022, cost $240 million to build.

“We think there's room in the community for both organizations to be successful,” McKenna says. “Next year will be our 75th anniversary season. It's one of the leading orchestras in the Southeast. It's grown the Van Wezel’s calendar, and as a result of the success the Van Wezel’s calendar has become more constrained. This building first and foremost relieves the calendar pressure and since we're looking to go to a new space to raise the acoustical standard and play in a room that's designed acoustically for music, that’s a win-win for the whole region.”

SARASOTA, FL — Sarasota Orchestra will purchase a 32-acre site on Fruitville Road between Honore Avenue and Cattlemen Road, near Interstate 75, to build its new performance venue, the organization said in a news release.

The 1,800-seat, state-of-the-art acoustical concert hall at 5701 Fruitville Road is part of the orchestra’s expansion plans. The venue will be the first of its kind designed specifically for acoustic music in the region, the organization added.

“The site will also house new and increased performance, education, event and outdoor space for the community,” including a 700-seat recital hall for chamber music and other flexible uses, Sarasota Orchestra said.

According to the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office, the 1.38 million-square-feet property is owned by Wal-Mart Stores East LP based in Bentonville, Arkansas. Zoned for planned commerce development, the land, which is undeveloped, is valued at $7,335,600.

The orchestra didn’t disclose the property’s sale price but said the funds have already been fully raised.

Find out what's happening in Sarasotawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We’re honored to be part of the growing momentum to elevate the area’s artistic and musical experiences, and to play an even greater role in contributing to the cultural, economic, educational and quality of life conditions of the greater Sarasota-Manatee area,” said Sarasota Orchestra President and CEO Joseph McKenna in a statement. “Our plans for this dynamic musical destination will bring to the community something it’s never had – a concert hall with outstanding acoustics that will transform the experience for patrons of our orchestra and the many local performing arts groups that will share our stage. This treasured asset will expand our region’s cultural capacity for the next century.”

As plans for the new venue move forward, orchestra leaders will meet with civic leaders, arts organizations and neighborhoods as they develop a masterplan for the site.

“This is a pivotal moment in the Orchestra’s 73-year history, representing a bold, civic-minded vision about our future and our potential to enrich lives throughout the greater Sarasota area and beyond,” said Tom Ryan, chair of the Sarasota Orchestra’s board of directors. “Schedule limitations at existing venues place extraordinary burdens on cultural organizations both now and into the future. The opportunity to ease this pressure with well-designed acoustic space for music organizations will enhance and improve our region’s reputation as a premier destination for arts and culture in Florida.”

SARASOTA COUNTY — Commuters exiting Interstate 75 on Fruitville Road may soon have a new incentive to leave their cars and have someone else take them into downtown Sarasota or the barrier islands.

The Florida Department of Transportation is considering building a park-and-ride lot somewhere near I-75 to reduce traffic on Fruitville Road. With new developments popping up east of the interstate, the project was one of several identified by the agency as it forms its vision for one of Sarasota County’s busiest roads.

“A lot of stakeholders are saying that getting from downtown to the interstate is difficult,” said Jay Hood, senior landscape architect on the Fruitville Road project.

FDOT has not identified a location yet and still needs to discuss it further with local agencies. The agency is also still getting feedback for its vision for the six-mile corridor from U.S. 301 to just east of I-75. You can still provide feedback until July 10.

Also under consideration are a number of intersection improvements and pedestrian crossing projects that will make Fruitville Road friendlier for pedestrians and bicyclists.

The land use along the corridor includes a swath of residences, commercial buildings, offices and open space.

Fruitville isn’t just used by motorists to get to work, run errands or go home, said Betsy Reina, FDOT’s urban planning manager. It’s also a main corridor to get to the barrier islands and the interstate.

“When you have a variety of destinations to consider, a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t sufficient,” said Reina.

That’s why FDOT is considering a multi-modal approach.

Beneva Road and Bobby Jones

The city of Sarasota earlier this year greenlighted a massive renovation project of the Bobby Jones Golf Course, which would turn the majority of the historic club into park land and expand the county’s trail network. But the stretch of Fruitville Road from Beneva to Honore Avenue has the highest number of crashes and fatalities along the entire corridor. With a proposed park between the intersections (and the potential for more foot traffic), FDOT is considering adding a midblock crosswalks, similar to what’s near the Ritz Carlton on North Tamiami Trail.

The agency will also look to improve the traffic signals and study the intersection to make it safer. At Honore and Fruitville, FDOT is considering making a number of intersection improvements, including the north and southbound turn lanes.

Lockwood Road North

and Fruitville Road

The Sarasota Fairgrounds and the Boys and Girls Club are the two biggest landmarks on this stretch of Fruitville. These areas often have large crowds but few pedestrian amenities. Traffic lights are spaced about a half mile apart, a long walk that often leads to jaywalking. To help decrease pedestrian injuries and deaths, FDOT is considering adding midblock crosswalks.

The agency has also identified parts of Fruitville Road for its Sun Trail network, a proposed statewide system of trail corridors for bicyclists and pedestrians. FDOT might add a bike trail along South Pompano Avenue that would connect to the Legacy Trail.

Cardinal Mooney

and McIntosh Road

Pedestrians, mostly children, cut through St. Martha’s Catholic School parking lot before jaywalking across Fruitville Road for shared class events at Cardinal Mooney High School. The school often has to bus students the short distance. FDOT is looking to enhance pedestrian crossings, sidewalks and improvements to the McIntosh Road intersection.

Diverging diamond

Several years ago, FDOT presented plans for converting a partial cloverleaf interchange at I-75 and Fruitville Road into a diverging diamond. The interchange is in the later stages of the design phase. The right-of-way for the proposed improvements has been acquired but a year for construction has not yet been identified.

Feedback?

The Florida Department of Transportation needs your help to identify additional problems along Interstate 75. Here’s how to comment:

• Email [email protected] or [email protected].

• Write to Florida Department of Transportation, 801 N. Broadway, Bartow FL 33830.

• Visit swflroads.com/sr780/fruitvillevision.