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The St. Petersburg Pier, an attraction as old as the city itself, is on its way toward another generation of change. Eliminating the current upside-down pyramid at its head is all but a foregone conclusion, but what replaces it will be subject to debate for many months.
One idea involves replacing the structure with an amphitheater — a novel idea, as long as thunderstorms or hurricanes stay away. Another would be to create a curve connecting to nearby Vinoy Park.
Both those ideas have been submitted in different forums over the last few weeks. Luis Ajamil, a Miami design consultant whose firm has already been paid $418,000 by the city to come up with new concepts for the Pier, presented those plans to the St. Petersburg City Council on Feb. 17.
Two days earlier, Cityscape, an affiliate of St. Petersburg-based Echelon LLC, held its own public presentation at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort. Cityscape's plans, which could cost up to $69 million depending on various options, include putting an amphitheater or pavilion at the head, creating beachfronts on the north and south sides, putting retail space closer to Beach Drive and building a pedestrian bridge to Vinoy Park.
Darryl LeClair, Cityscape's chief and a veteran commercial developer, says he wants to be able to show city leaders that the project can be done within the assigned $50-million budget now in place for Pier improvements. Whether his group's ideas are actually accepted is less of a concern, he says.
“We care about this city and this community,” says LeClair, whose company, Echelon, previously developed Carillon office and residential park near Interstate 275 and One Progress Plaza in downtown St. Petersburg. He notes that Cityscape's proposal, with design help from St. Petersburg-based Wannemacher Jensen Architects Inc., takes advantage of current low construction pricing, which may not be around for long if the city takes too long pondering what to do with the Pier.
The Pier's history dates back to 1889, three years before St. Petersburg was incorporated, as a tourist attraction of the Orange Belt Railway. The current iconic structure opened in 1973, having replaced a Mediterranean design that lasted from 1926 to 1967.
The City Council decided last August to tear down the inverted pyramid rather than fund remodeling, though demolition may be a year or two away to allow time for new designs and arrange financing. City officials will invite proposals this summer and say they might consider accepting the best elements of each, rather than a single exclusive bid.
Longtime city residents and business leaders are watching the process with keen interest, looking for something that will bring crowds back to the Pier that have been waning in recent years. They emphasize building for the long term, considering both the current and prior versions have each lasted about four decades.
“It's not often in your own generation you get to create something for other generations to see,” says Chris Steinocher, the new president and CEO of the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce. He adds it is particularly gratifying that locally based groups such as Cityscape are willing to take the initiative.
“What a neat opportunity to show that if you give somebody a budget and allow them to be creative, they will do that,” Steinocher says. “We have very passionate folks in this city who want to control their own destiny.”
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