- January 8, 2026
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Manatee County officials will both start and wrap up multiple projects in the eastern part of the county in 2026. Much of that work is focused on sites off Lena Road and at Premier Sports Campus North.
Some of the work includes:
It took six years for Manatee County to open its first amenity on the Premier Campus North land — the Lakewood Ranch Library — and the final vision for the park remains a work in progress.
Construction is moving forward on three projects, which are all anticipated to be finished this year: the Athletics and Aquatics Center; the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office substation; and the second floor buildout of the Lakewood Ranch Library.
Construction on both the second floor of the library and the Sheriff's Office substation began in November, with the library upgrades anticipated to be complete in April and the substation in October.
Because the substation will be a secure facility, designs can’t be released to the public, but the cost and timeline were released in October in an agreement with Lakewood Ranch-based Willis A. Smith Construction.
The guaranteed maximum price to construct the facility is $7.47 million, with the access road accounting for about $578,000 of that cost.
The $6.9 million plan for the library’s second floor, meanwhile, is not under wraps.
Construction is underway on the restrooms and a small service station for library staff. The Friends of the Lakewood Ranch Library, the library’s nonprofit arm, is also getting a work space.
The rest of the floor will be dedicated to flex space, which the public will be able to reserve once open.
In 2017, Manatee County had five years to build an aquatics center, according to its agreement with Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, developer of Lakewood Ranch. The stipulation was written into the deal.
With often changing plans and budgets, though, the Athletics and Aquatics Center didn’t break ground until eight years later. Now, 2026 is the year east county swimmers will stop driving to Sarasota for swim practice.
The $44.2 million center that will feature two pools and 24 pickleball courts is scheduled to open Sept. 2.
While improvements to Lena Road between State Road 70 and State Road 64 were stalled due to budget constraints, two construction projects will be moving forward along the corridor in 2026: a property evidence building for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and a renewable natural gas facility.
The latter is being designed and built in a partnership between Nopetro Energy and Johnson Controls. The $50 million facility will start construction in 2026 in anticipation of being operational in 2027.
Patrick Shea, director of Utilities for Manatee County, says construction won’t impact nearby residents.
Once operational, the facility will capture the methane gas generated by the Lena Road Landfill and convert it into natural renewable gas.
According to Nopetro, the annual carbon dioxide that will be eliminated by the facility is equal to the carbon dioxide produced by 5.3 million gallons of gasoline. The renewable energy anticipated to be produced by the facility could power more than 4,500 homes per year.
The Sheriff’s Office property evidence building is planned for 1707 Lena Road. The county purchased 161 acres in 2020 for $32.5 million with plans for a county compound.
In January 2024, the property was added to the county's list of surplus properties, and homebuilder D.R. Horton made a $35 million offer for it.
But one year later, with a new commission in place, commissioners voted to keep the Lena Road property and revert back to the original plan.
In the interim, the $2.3 million evidence building was planned for 3500 9th St. W. in Bradenton next to the Sheriff Office’s current building that houses the Child Protection Investigation Division.
Because the location changed, plans for a two-story building morphed into plans for a one-story building, but the square footage will remain the same: 45,000 square feet.
Bill Logan, information outreach manager for Manatee County, says the design is 60% complete, and the construction documents phase, which transforms the concept into a buildable architectural plan, has also begun.
A start date for construction is not set, but the documents should be finalized during the first quarter of 2026 so the county can start the procurement process to find a contractor.
No matter where the building was to be constructed, it’s a necessary addition to comply with Florida statute's mandated evidence retention requirements.
"The Sheriff’s Office is quickly approaching its storage limits for property and evidence," Public Information Officer Randy Warren says. "With the growing number of criminal cases each year and the large volume of evidence, much of it requiring long-term retention, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office is on track to run out of storage space within five to seven years."
This article originally appeared on sister site YourObserver.com.
