"You just don’t find top racing water in the middle of a town."
-- Dragos Alexandru
A former dirt quarry, or borrow pit, created when construction crews removed material for roadwork was bought by Sarasota County from an asphalt contractor for $2.2 million in 1995. It was called Apac Park, for the company that sold it, then rechristened North Metro Park. It was used by a few anglers.
How little known was it? When Dragos Alexandru called Sarasota County offices seeking a permit to be able to hold a small rowing event there in 2003, “The county didn’t even know they had this lake,” he said. “They said, ‘We don’t have a North Metro Park’ and I said ‘Yes, you do — I’m sitting in front it.’”
Read more at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.