At Warm Mineral Springs this winter, you'll pay at a temporary admissions building and change in a portable restroom trailer. Then you'll walk past a construction fence to water that stays near 85 degrees all year. The spring is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It closes only on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, so the holiday guest soak needs to fall on some other day in late November.
The City of North Port's roughly $16.7 million project pays for restrooms, shade, floodproofing, parking and new water and sewer lines that the park doesn't have today. The city says those lines help protect the spring itself. The regulars who kept coming through the shutdown now pay part of the cost through pass prices.
The Water Never Closed. The Buildings Did.
The historic buildings have been closed since damage from Hurricanes Elsa and Ian. That includes the gift shop, permanent showers, restrooms, changing rooms and lockers. The park still has no concessions. You can bring a small cooler, and food trucks often park outside the gate. Glassware and alcohol aren't allowed.
The temporary setup has held up because the draw was always the water. The city counts more than 150,000 visitors a year at the park. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and calls itself the only natural warm spring in Florida.
Getting to a construction start took years. A 2022 bid came in far above the $9,345,470.88 the city had budgeted. Talks on a public-private partnership with WMS Development Group LLC ended in February 2024, after the developers changed their proposal so they would no longer run the springs. They cited rising insurance and staffing costs. The park stayed with North Port Parks & Recreation. In January 2026, the City Commission voted 4–1 to keep a local-protection approach for the 83-acre park, the Herald-Tribune reported.
What Comes Back Is Built for Daily Soakers
Construction started July 27, 2026, with a "Hats on for Progress" ceremony. Wharton-Smith is the construction manager. Kimley-Horn and Associates, Sweet Sparkman Architecture and Interiors, and the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation are project partners. Each building gets a different level of work, and the plans show who it's for:
| Building | What the plan calls for | What visitors get |
|---|---|---|
| Admission Building | Historic rehabilitation and floodproofing | Conditioned admissions space, staff and public restrooms, a meeting room |
| Spa Building | Hybrid rehabilitation into an open-air pavilion, keeping the Jack West exterior | Eleven family-style restrooms, a shaded gathering area, open-air showers |
| Cyclorama | Roof repairs, floodproofing, stabilization | Nothing yet; it will be mothballed until restoration money is available |
The work focuses on restrooms, outdoor showers, shade and a better route through the site, with new landscaping and irrigation on top. In 2024, the commission chose this approach. Converting the Spa Building into a pavilion keeps its Sarasota School of Architecture design and its historic designation.
Parks & Recreation Director Sandy Pfundheller spoke at the kickoff, according to the city's announcement:
"We are excited to kick off construction after years of planning, collaboration and community input. This first phase reflects our commitment to preserving this treasured destination and enhancing our community's quality of life for generations to come."
The city expects about 16 months of construction. It describes a grand opening as "potentially planned for late 2027," so treat that as a target, not a date.
The Spring Gets Its Own Protection Underground
The park runs on a private well and an onsite septic system because city water and sewer don't reach the site. The city says that setup can't support the renovated buildings or the safety upgrades they require.
The project page says why the new lines matter. Public water supplies the fire sprinklers the code requires in the historic buildings. It also reduces how much water the park pulls from the underground aquifers that help feed the spring. Connecting to sewer lets the park remove its septic system, which the city says protects Warm Mineral Springs, Salt Creek and the Myakka River from possible contamination. City Manager Jerome Fletcher called the park "a nationally recognized historic site, a natural resource and an economic asset."
The funding sources line up with that. The commission added $4.08 million in July on top of $12.6 million already set aside. The money comes from the Warm Mineral Springs Fund, the Environmental Protection Fund, the Utilities Revenue Fund, park impact fees and surtax.
Ortiz Boulevard Gets the Pipe Work First
If you live off Ortiz Boulevard or Trionfo Avenue, you'll see the underground work before you see a finished pavilion. An October 2026 city notice says the water and sewer construction is expected to begin in November or December 2026 and run through summer 2027. The work moves in phases:
- Starting at Tamiami Trail
- North along Ortiz Boulevard
- East along Trionfo Avenue
Roads stay open, but drivers may see temporary lane closures, traffic shifts and minor delays. The construction team plans to tell homeowners when work is about to reach their section. The city says the lines serve only the park. Nearby homes aren't required to connect, and homeowners don't need to do anything for this project.
Regulars Now Pay Part of the Cost
The October 1 pass changes connect visitors to the rebuild. Under Ordinance 2026-21, approved after readings on July 7 and July 21, the 10-visit pass is now 20% off daily admission and the 30-visit pass is 40% off. Daily admission didn't change. Pass revenue stays in Warm Mineral Springs Fund 125 for infrastructure and long-term capital needs.
Adult rates effective Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027:
| Adult (18+) | North Port resident | Sarasota County resident | Nonresident |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily | $15 | $18 | $20 |
| 10-visit pass | $120 | $144 | $160 |
| 30-visit pass | $270 | $324 | $360 |
| Annual pass | $1,125 | $1,600 | $2,000 |
For a North Port resident, the 10-visit pass works out to $12 a soak and the 30-visit pass to $9. Children 5 and under get in free. Students ages 6 to 17 pay $11.25, $13 or $15 depending on residency. Both multi-visit passes expire 180 days after purchase and can't be refunded. Anyone in the buyer's household can use them, but nobody outside it. The city says annual passes are still the cheapest option for frequent visitors. You can buy one at the park with a valid ID and proof of residency. At the resident rate, the annual pass costs the same as 75 daily admissions.
The pass rules include a couple of other details. You can leave and come back the same day. If the park closes because of weather, wildlife or facility problems while you've been there less than two hours, and the closure is expected to last more than an hour, you get a rain check good for 30 days.
The Trail Link Is a Later Phase
Bicycle access is planned. North Port's P24LTC project would connect Sarasota County's North Port Connector, at Price Boulevard and Calera Street, to a new trailhead inside the springs park. On May 5, 2026, the commission added $125,000 to the project for design, engineering and permitting. The city's capital plan puts the total at about $4.83 million and runs the project's schedule through September 2029.
Until then, the existing connector is a good warm-up before a soak. Sarasota County's Legacy Trail page lists three routes. There's a paved connector from Price Boulevard to Forbes Trail. The Alphabet Trail is a natural-surface path through Deer Prairie Creek Preserve. The hard-packed South Powerline Trail connects to Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park. The preserve's north entrance at 7001 Forbes Trail is a listed trailhead.
For the latest on construction and lane closures, check the city's building rehabilitation page. Fees and hours are on the Warm Mineral Springs Park page.
At Home Matchmaking Realty, we track what's changing around North Port's well-known places, from the Ortiz Boulevard pipe work to the pavilion going up by the spring. If you have questions about how projects like this affect the streets around Warm Mineral Springs, contact us. We're glad to talk it through.
