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sarasota - Rackcdn.com
E N 1 # AMERICA’S PER A P WS bserver SARASOTA YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. FREE • THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2014 GROWTH SPURT DIVERSIONS Five new hotels stand poised to call downtown home. PAGE 3A OUR TOWN SEA STARS Sarasota Bay Watch celebrates scallops’ role. PAGE 19A Lesha, a visual artist, makes everyday objects appear extraordinary. INSIDE FREEZE FRAME by Robin Hartill | Observer Staff A FULL DECK Daiquiri Deck’s owners plan to expand the restaurant’s St. Armands location to the first floor, but that’s just the first course of their plans for growth. Heather Merriman + Every dog has its day Courtesy photo Jackie Fanara, Dr. Adam Bright, Jessica Miller and Nina Amaral + Run to Remember raises $13,000 Pines of Sarasota’s “Run to Remember” raised $13,000 for its Memory Care Unit. The 5K run/walk for Alzheimer’s disease was held April 26. Pines will host its second “Run to Remember” next year, on Saturday, April 25. Medical Director of Pines Rehabilitation Unit Dr. Adam Bright chaired the event. The funds raised from the run will benefit Pines Garden Memory Care Unit, as well as the education programs offered at Pines Education Institute. Couple fights zoning regulations Achim and Erika Ginsberg-Klemmt have faced a litany of obstacles — and haven’t backed down. Dani with her handler, Debra Cottrell, and Grace Daniels Consulate Health Care of Sarasota’s beloved service dog, Danielle, retires after providing five years of therapy to the residents and patients at Consulate. To celebrate the dog and wish Dani farewell, guests and some of her four-legged friends joined Monday in the dining room at Consulate Health Care for a party. Songs such as “Who Let the Dogs Out” were playing while party hats and cupcakes were offered to guests. Dani and her doggie friends enjoyed a dog-friendly cake. field of dreams by David Conway | News Editor DAIQUIRI DATES Daiquiri Deck Vice President of Operations Matt Grover, President Troy Syprett and Vice President of Marketing Russell Matthes 1993 — Daiquiri Deck opens its first location in Siesta Key Village. I 1995 — Daiquiri Deck opens a second location on Madeira Beach in Pinellas County. Robin Hartill n late 2010, Daiquiri Deck owners Troy Syprett, Russell Matthes and Matt Grover made a vow of solidarity: They wouldn’t shave their beards until their new restaurant opened on St. Armands Circle. They didn’t expect their pact would require them to go without shaving for five-and-a-half months as construction issues delayed the opening. But, in March 2011, they made the cut when the restaurant finally opened. Three-and-a-half years later, the trio hopes that several additional openings are on the horizon. Will they ditch their razors once again in anticipation of the milestones? Not a chance. “That was a one-time thing,” said Matthes, Daiquiri Deck’s vice president of marketing. Syprett, Matthes and Grover plan to expand the second-story St. Armands location to include the ground-floor space previously occupied by Sarasota Yogurt Co. They hope the project will be completed by Thanksgiving. They are in discussions to open at a new, undisclosed Sarasota County location by the end of the year. In the long term, they hope to continue to add new locations, growing to as many as 10 restaurants from Clearwater to Naples. Having a first-floor presence on St. Armands was one of their goals from the time they opened there. “We wanted the first floor from the start, but it hasn’t been available,” said Grover, vice president of operations. “When it became available, we jumped on the opportunity.” Renovations will add 1,500 square feet and approximately 75 seats to the restaurant’s existing nearly 3,000 square feet and 200 seats. The company will hire 30 to 40 new employees to add to its current staff of 340. “The basic plan is to bring the atmosphere from upstairs to the first floor,” Grover said. They will add a folding NanaWall, a folding glass wall that will allow them to open up 1996 — Daiquiri Deck owners open the Peanut Gallery, a small bar in Siesta Key Village, which is now the raw bar for the Siesta location. 2004 — The owners sell the Madeira Beach location. 2011 — St. Armands Circle location opens. 2013 — Venice location opens. 2014 — The owners plan to expand the St. Armands location to the first floor and possibly add a fourth location by the end of the year. SEE EXPANSION / 10A Erika and Achim GinsbergKlemmt have a history of fighting against perceived injustices. The Sarasota couple, who spent more than a decade living around the world on a boat before settling in the area in 2005, has taken on adversaries as large as the French government in the past, successfully challenging the country’s entry procedures when they believed the rules were unfair. So, when the city of Sarasota denied their application this year to build a mooring field on the property they owned, it didn’t take long for the couple to decide to push back. “We have a little bit of a fighting spirit in us,” Erika GinsbergKlemmt said. “It’s kind of kept that going.” In 2010, as the GinsbergKlemmts began investing in real estate, the couple targeted roughly three acres of underwater property adjacent to the Lawrence Pointe and Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota condominiums. After buying the adjoining parcels for $19,200, they reached out to their new neighbors to see if they were interested in working together as the Ginsberg-Klemmts sought to construct a mooring field. Although the neighboring property owners showed no interest, the two forged ahead with their plans. From the beginning, the city made it clear that developing something on the newly acquired property would be a challenge for the Ginsberg-Klemmts. A meeting with former city Senior Planner Harvey Hoglund painted a dire picture for their prospects of building a mooring field, Erika Ginsberg-Klemmt remembers. “He just said, ‘We’ll never let SEE MOORING / 2A INDEX Opinion.................8A Classifieds ........ 27A Cops Corner..........9A Crossword.......... 26A Permits.............. 25A Real Estate........ 24A Sports................ 16A Weather............. 26A Vol. 10, No. 38 | Two sections YourObserver.com