Bringing New Life to downtown St. Petersburg’s Waterfront

Story by STEVE TRAIMAN

With the long-awaited new St. Pete Pier grand opening hopefully promised by late summer, Mayor Rick Kriseman told Paradise News, “There have been numerous iterations of our new Pier since the late 1800’s and by the city since 1913.  The downtown pier is part of our identity, woven into the fabric of our DNA. 

“The ‘Inverted Pyramid’ we had when I was growing up in St. Pete was controversial when it was designed and built, but certainly iconic.

“When I took office as mayor, we restarted the entire design selection process again. Today, our community has embraced the new St. Pete Pier because they already feel like it belongs to them.

“And it isn’t just a pier, it’s an entire district of 26 acres. There are five great restaurants at different price points for all residents and visitors, unique public art from four world-renowned artists, a great lawn, a bathing beach, various teaching landscapes and performance spaces. And there are also places where you can just sit and watch people and the surrounding waterfront.

We announced that Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille would be the featured restaurant in the Pelican Lot section of the new Pier. The 10,000-square-foot eatery will be at the southern end of the Overlook. Fresco’s Waterfront Bistro, located near the Pier entrance, features a spacious wrap-around deck with views of the open water, boat-filled marinas and the Pier District. The Spa Beach Bistro is an inviting entry point to the Pier in a stylish Pavilion structure to provide shade and comfort, as well as a cafe that offers grab-and-go food items, as well as other healthy, interesting and more traditional food selections. 

“At ground level, there’s the Driftwood Cafe, rising nine feet from the Pier Point deck and connecting to the tilted lawn; the casual walkup spot offers ice cream and snacks. On the roof, you can kick back at Pier Teaki, a modern take on the classic tiki bar, with the same local ownership as the nearby Birchwood. Opening this summer is Teak, a marquee fine dining eatery on the fourth floor of the elegant Pier Point building at the end of the Pier.

“We’re also very pleased to have Tampa Bay Watch in charge of operating our 3,000-square-foot Discovery Center and we know their long history of ‘saving the Bay every day’ will be a key attraction when the Pier is ready for its many great programs.”

Key Role for Tampa Bay Watch

In May 2018, the St. Petersburg City Council approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a lease agreement with Tampa Bay Watch for the development and operation of a Discovery Center at the new St. Pete Pier™. 

Peter Clark, founder and president, in accepting the lease, said, “Tampa Bay Watch’s vision for the Discovery Center is to offer a wide array of citizen science programs to expand public involvement in scientific discovery.” 

Dwayne Virgint, TBW Executive Director for the new Discovery Center, told Paradise News, “We are grateful to all of our supporters including, but not limited to, our naming sponsor, the Milkey Family Foundation for $1,000,000, Visit St. Pete Clearwater’s Tourist Development Commission’s grant for $300,000, and Duke Energy Foundation’s grant for $75,000 to sponsor our Living Shoreline Exhibit.”

“The Discovery Center will include a public Exhibit Gallery to showcase the economic and ecological value of the Tampa Bay estuary to residents and visitors, and a classroom to expand our educational outreach programs to area schools. It will also provide the opportunity to expand our programs and mission to a projected 1.7 million visitors to the St. Pete Pier each year. With more than 4,600 visitors projected each day, the Discovery Center is expected to be one of the jewels of the new development along the St. Petersburg waterfront.

“Focal point of the Exhibit Gallery is an 1,800-gallon Estuary Habitat that replicates the living underwater habitat of many of the species found in our local waters. Guests will also engage in interactive displays, video presentations, a touch tank and docent-led tours. School groups from K-12 and guest groups of all ages will find an exciting slate of educational programs at the Discovery Center. The facility will offer field trips and summer camps, as well as special internships for older students. Educators will teach a wide range of classes, including age and curriculum-specific programs. Students will learn a broad scope of material, from the minute details of marine life cycles to steps that anyone can take to help preserve and protect the bay. 

“Soon, a new floating classroom will belaunched from the Discovery Center. Moored at the St. Pete Pier, our brand new USCG certified catamaran Eco-Vessel will provide on-the-water school field trips in the morning and be utilized for family-friendly public Eco Tours in the afternoons and on weekends. Tours will explore Tampa Bay history and the marine life you’ll find in and above the bay. Activities include a fisheries trawl, bird spotting and identifying specific traits, dolphin identification and behaviors, all while enjoying a relaxing bay cruise.”

Heidi Blair, Discovery Center Operations Manager for Tampa Bay Watch, noted, “We are seeking volunteers ages 16 and over for the new Discovery Center. Docents/volunteers are needed to give facility tours, answer questions, and monitor the exhibits and touch tanks. Familiarity with coastal ecosystems is helpful, but not required. A passion for the environment is highly desired. For more information, please contact me via email at hblair@tampabaywatch.org.

Early Pier History

The Railroad Pier was the first centralized pier, built in 1889 by Peter Demens and John C. Williams with the Orange Belt Railway. Stretching about 3,000 feet into Tampa Bay from First Ave. South, it allowed steamboats and cargo-freight ships to enter and dock in its 12-ft.-deep waters. Demens also saw the Pier as a tourist attraction, adding a bathing pavilion and leasing part of the pier for Henry W. Hibbs to open a fishing business. 

As an alternative, D.F.S. Brantley constructed the 1,500-foot-long Brantley Pier in 7-ft.-deep waters at Second Ave. North, also featuring a bathing pavilion. As competition between the piers grew, it helped to facilitate William Straub of the St. Petersburg Times to successfully advocate for the waterfront to be used for public parks in the early 20th century.

A third pier was built by Edwin H. Tomlinson in 1901 south of the Railroad Pier on 4th Avenue South. Named the Fountain of Youth Pier, it featured a cottage at the edge of the pier, and a well that was drilled near the entrance that held similar promises of the famed “Fountain of Youth” in St. Augustine.

The Brantley Pier was demolished in 1904, replaced by the 3,000-ft-long, 16-ft-wide Electric Pier constructed by F.A. Davis in 1905. It was illuminated with light bulbs and featured an electric trolley that could move both passengers and cargo down the length of the pier, rivaling that of the Railroad Pier once again.  In 1908, Jesse F. Conrad purchased the pier from Tomlinson and added an arch for the entrance of the pier as well as turning the well into a spa.

The Municipal Recreation Pier, the first built and owned by the city, opened just 10 feet north of the Electric Pier in 1913 after a $40,000 bond was authorized by voters. It was an early effort by the city to boost its tourism and enhance its parks and was used solely for recreational activities. The Electric Pier was demolished the next year.

In the aftermath of the destructive 1921 hurricane, the Fountain of Youth Pier was completely destroyed and the spa building at its base collapsed. The other piers were severely damaged as the Railroad Pier only had a water tank and the Hibbs fishing business left. The Municipal Recreation Pier had only pilings remaining, and although repaired, city engineers said it would need to be replaced.

As a result, Lew B. Brown, a publisher of the Evening Independent, promoted an effort to construct “The Million Dollar Pier.”  Brown had organized the community into donating $300,000 towards the pier, with the remaining funds from the city. Voters in 1925 endorsed a $1 million bond, and construction began – the pier would cost $998,729! 

More than 10,000 welcomed The Million Dollar Pier when it opened November 25, 1926. The 100-ft-wide pier extended 1,452 feet into the bay with a Mediterranean Revival-style Casino building at the foot. It had hosted a central atrium for vehicles, an open-air ballroom, a theater, and an observation deck. Along its base and approach the pier also accommodated a beach, a solarium, and a streetcar line. In July 1927, radio station WSUN began operation in the Casino’s Shrine Club.

In 1952, the Railroad Pier was demolished, ending the pier era for industrialism.  In the mid 1960s, The Million Dollar Pier was showing signs of neglect, sparking different groups to suggest replacements. With expensive repairs and renovations needed for upkeep, the city decided to demolish the Pier and Casino structures, completed in 1967. After the demolition, the pier’s head was converted into a park that included benches, tables, and shelters. In the ensuing years after the city considered many ideas to replace the pier ranging from industrial to commercial uses, in 1969, the city council authorized a pier project slated to be completed for the 1970–1971 tourist season at the cost of $2 million. 

The project selected was the Inverted Pyramid Pier designed by William B. Harvard Sr., founder of the Harvard-Jolley Architecture firm. It was designed to minimize blocking the view of Tampa Bay, and in 1970, the pier project was granted an additional $800,000 for construction.  

The Inverted Pyramid Pier opened on January 15, 1973, after delays and a final budget of around $4 million. Upon its opening, the Marriott Corp. was given a five-year management contract. It had a tubular steel framework to create large windows for panoramic views of Tampa Bay and a larger top floor and observation deck. In 1986, the Pier closed for renovations; after delays and an expanded restoration budget of $12 million, it reopened on August 27, 1988. 

New ‘St. Pete Pier’

In 2004, the city decided the Pier could no longer be funded due to significant upkeep costs, and a new pier would replace it. In April 2005, Pinellas County created a plan to set aside $50 million for a new pier. In 2009, an official Pier Task Force was created and set an international design competition with 29 architectural firms submitting designs. The Inverted Pyramid Pier officially closed on May 31, 2013.  In August 2010, city council accepted Mayor Bill Foster’s recommendation to demolish the existing pier, and in January 2012 the St. Petersburg Pier International Design Competition Jury unanimously selected Michael Maltzan Architecture’s “The Lens” as the winning design. However, the firm’s plans for a visible reef that low visibility in Tampa Bay made unrealistic, led to an August 27, 2013 vote by city residents to cancel the Maltzan contract.

After a reopened selection process, on April 23, 2015, the Committee selected the “Pier Park” design by Rogers Partners Architects+Urban Design, ASD and Ken Smith. On June 8, city council approved the plans, with a contract approved on June 9. A $5.2 million deal to demolish the Inverted Pyramid Pier and finalize the new pier plans was approved on July 9. Demolition was finally completed in late 2016.

A nice crowd welcomed Pier Park’s groundbreaking on June 28, 2017. On September 25, 2017, Pinellas County granted an expanded budget of $76 million towards the Pier’s district. By December, construction on the pier’s concrete pilings and the deck were well underway. 

In April 2018, three artists were announced to create public art for the pier’s surrounding and immediate district, including Nick Ervinck (for “Olnetopia”), Nathan Mastry (for “Myth”), and Xenobia Bailey (for “Morning Stars”). In August 2018, city council approved a Janet Echelman sculpture, “Bending Arc.” Vertical construction on the city named and trademarked “St. Pete Pier” structure began in November 2018.

St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman summed up, “I look forward to welcoming residents and visitors alike when the new St. Pete Pier opens as soon as safety conditions permit, hopefully by late summer.” 

[Editor’s Note: special thanks to Mayor Rick Kriseman and Ben Price, the mayor’s press spokesman; Rachel Arndt, Dwayne Virgint & Peter Clark, Tampa Bay Watch; and for Pier History to archives from The St Petersburg Times and Evening Independent]

[Steve Traiman is President of Creative Copy by Steve Traiman, St. Pete Beach, providing business writing services at traimancreativecopy@gmail.com or by phone to 727-363-7531.]

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