"All the dredge and fill activity has completed. All the new sand is placed on the beach," Steven Berens, the City of Venice's stormwater engineering manager, told FOX 13 in late summer. On Friday, Oct. 2, the City and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers marked the end of the project with a 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting at the Venice Beach Pavilion, 101 The Esplanade S.
The City's own project log has kept going past the ribbon-cutting, though. Its Sept. 30 update has crews tilling sand and clearing rock across the project area until late October. It also says the Brohard Paw Park beach access will close while tilling happens nearby, and no dates have been set for that closure. The new beach is wider and open. The south end, though, is still a work site for a few more weeks, and that's where Venice goes to hunt for teeth and walk the dog.
What 3.2 Miles of New Sand Changed
This is Venice's third periodic renourishment. It replaces sand lost since the last one in 2015 to everyday erosion and coastal storms. Weeks Marine dredged the sand from an offshore borrow area about 11 nautical miles southwest of the project, off Englewood. The $27,495,000 construction contract was fully federally funded.
The final total, as of the City's Aug. 19 update, was nearly 620,000 cubic yards placed on the beach. FOX 13 reported that the shoreline is now 50 to 100 feet wider, depending on where you stand. The project covers every beach from the Humphris Park South Jetty to South Brohard Park, including Venice Beach and Service Club Park.
A wider beach also changes the drainage. As part of the project, crews are extending five existing stormwater outfalls so drainage keeps working across the wider beach. That outfall work, plus tilling and rock removal, is what's left this month.
The Work Still Scheduled, Beach by Beach
The City's log names each remaining job and where it is. As of Sept. 30, this is where things stood:
- Outfall 4 at Aldea Mar Condo, Outfall 7 at Golden Beach Condo and Outfall 10 at the USCG Station are complete.
- Outfall 1 at Venice Beach and Outfall 2 at Venice Sands Condo are expected to wrap up by mid-October. Outfall 1 sits about 400 feet south of the Venice Beach Pavilion, and Outfall 2 is near the end of Alhambra Road.
- Rock remediation and sand tilling across the whole project area are expected to finish by late October. Rock work started Aug. 25 south of the Venice Fishing Pier.
- The Brohard Paw Park beach access closes temporarily whenever tilling runs nearby. No closure dates have been announced.
- The last sand distribution pipes can come out now. Nearby turtle nests have hatched.
The dog beach has been on and off since August. In mid-August, Sarasota County Parks closed the beach portion of Brohard Paw Park while sand was being placed. The County kept it closed during rock work and reviewed it daily. FOX 13 reported at one point that it could reopen as early as later that week. The City's Sept. 30 notice replaces that estimate. Check before you load the dog in the car.
The Fishing Pier area has the same open question. During construction, the City closed part of the parking lot and beach paths north and south of the pier for equipment staging. The latest update doesn't say whether all of it has reopened.
Why the County Has the Final Word on These Beaches
Venice changed how it runs its parks on Oct. 1, and that affects who you ask about all this. Under a new 10-year interlocal agreement, the City took back full management of the Venice Community Center, Legacy Park, Higel Marine Park, Chauncy Howard Park, the west side of Venetian Waterway Park, Venice Myakka River Park and Hecksher Park. Sarasota County still runs Brohard Park, Venice Beach, Marina Park and Boat Ramp, and Pinebrook Park.
So the City's engineering page tracks the renourishment schedule, but the Paw Park itself is a County call. The trail to Caspersen Beach is now on City-managed ground, as the next section explains.
Shark-Tooth Hunting While Crews Finish the South End
Visit Venice sends tooth hunters to the beaches south of the Venice Jetty and calls the Fishing Pier and Brohard area a good place to start. Those are the same stretches where the City has scheduled rock and tilling work through late October. No city, county or museum source has published whether the new offshore sand changes what turns up in a sifter. Anyone who says otherwise is guessing.
The City's list of beaches in the project stops at South Brohard Park and doesn't include Caspersen Beach Park, at 4100 Harbor Drive S. Getting there takes more effort than it used to. The Harbor Drive access washed out during the 2024 storm season, and the restrooms, parking and playground are closed until repairs are made. The park is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. to people on foot or bike only. You can walk in from South Brohard Park or take the Venetian Waterway Park Trail from the City of Venice Festival Grounds.
Venice Suncoast Tours runs a 3.5-hour family shark-tooth tour that meets at South Brohard Park. The guide and equipment are included. If you'd rather hunt underwater, Top 2 Bottom Charters runs offshore fossil and shark-tooth dives with Captain Dustin Butera and supplies tanks, weights and fossil bags.
The rules are short. The Florida Museum says you can collect and keep fossil shark teeth without the permit required for most fossils. It also says to search only where collecting is allowed and not to dig on public land. On a beach where crews are tilling and pulling out rock, that means sifting the surface and staying clear of the active zone.
Where Locals Get Their Gear
The classic Venice tool is a screened scoop that Visit Venice calls the "Venice Snow Shovel." Papa's Bait Shop rents and sells them. Downtown, two shops sell their own branded sifters:
- Shark Frenzy, 262 Tamiami Trail South
- Fossil Frenzy, 272 Miami Avenue West
If you're buying finished specimens or gifts for out-of-town guests, Visit Venice also lists Earth Treasures, Meg Goddess Designs, Sea Pleasures and Treasures, and the Venice Museum & Archives gift shop.
Businesses along the beach have been watching the sand closely. Justin Pachota, owner of Sharky's, told FOX 13:
"Really the damage to the dunes was a big chunk of it. Hopefully, with more beach on the sand, the dunes can kind of build back up and give us the protection here on the barrier island."
The Dates Between Now and the Next Festival
The south end's schedule doesn't end with the tilling. Sea turtle nesting season runs May 1 through October 31, and Mote Marine Laboratory monitored and moved nests throughout construction. The scheduled tilling and the nesting season both end at about the same time this month.
In November, the Corps plans to release a major maintenance report on the Venice Jetty, including projected costs and a possible construction timeline. Some residents had asked why the beach came before jetty repairs. The City explained that renourishment follows a long-standing agreement with the Corps, dating to the 1990s, that sets maintenance years in advance.
The Venice Sharks Tooth Festival asks you to save April 10–11, 2027. Vendor applications are due to post in mid-December 2026. That gives a full winter on the new sand before the festival, and the beach should be free of construction crews by early November if the City's late-October estimate holds.
Every Venice beach access has its own pace, and the same is true when you're deciding which part of town puts you within a bike ride of South Brohard or the Venetian Waterway Park Trail. If you're weighing that kind of move, Gina Guarino Group knows these beaches and can walk you through them. Let Our Team, Be Your Team.
