St Petersburg City Council members recently authorized Mayor Rick Kriseman to sign a five-year lease with Tampa Bay Watch, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the restoration and protection of the Tampa Bay waters through scientific and educational programs. Since 1993 Tampa Bay Watch and thousands of volunteers have performed a variety of habitat restoration and protection activities each year to help Tampa Bay recover from its environmental problems.
Last September, the group submitted a proposal to the city to lease, operate, and manage the education center, which would include programs focused on marine and environmental education presented to families and tourists during afternoon and evening sessions and summer camps. Tampa Bay Watch will also manage the center as an event venue for corporate meetings and special events. Chris Ballestra, the city’s managing director of development coordination said, “Tampa Bay Watch is perfectly situated to manage the education center. They have decades of environmental stewardship, programming, and a proven ability to provide outstanding environmental education to the Tampa Bay Region.”
For information visit, newstpetepier.com or www.tampabaywatch.org
Photo rendering of St. Pete Pier Education Center courtesy of the city of St. Petersburg.