Late Thursday night, the St. Pete Pier Selection Committee ranked its remaining three designs and listed Pier Park as its top choice. The committee chose Destination St. Pete Pier second, which actually was the top choice in public opinion polls, and the Alma design was selected third.
The Pier Park design features a four-level structure with a fabric roof and 7,600-square feet of air-conditioned restaurant space with panoramic views. The pier overlook would hold events and the lawn area could be used for concerts.
Here are fifteen things I think I think about the selection of Pier Park:
— I don’t personally know the City of St. Petersburg’s Director of Public Works Mike Connors, but I can’t remember a worse example of someone being a bureaucratic a–hole than the performance Connors put on Thursday. The low-water mark was when Connors said with a straight face that the reason why (what he considers) a small sample of the public participated in the city’s Pier survey is because the public trusted him and the rest of “the professionals” to make the right decision. I don’t know if the central planners in the Soviet Union had that much disdain for public input.
— The only bigger a-hole last night was Tampa Bay Times editor of editorials Tim Nickens, who was tweeting out ageist, disrespectful snark against supporters of Destination St. Pete. At one point, he called them “grouchy.” Nickens can tell that to Betsy Johnson, the little girl who confidently approached the podium in support of Destination St. Pete Pier. Her reason – it had fun stuff for kids and Alma didn’t. She made no mention of Pier Park.
— How do you bring a nine-hour meeting in for a quick landing? Just have someone’s kid head to the ER. Just before the final voting, Lenz received word that her son was being taken to the hospital. Suddenly a deliberative process was wrapped up in just a few minutes of discussion and voting. Connors and Tampa architect James Jackson — hopefully we never have to hear ever again from that bureaucrat — actually ranked Pier Park first in an obvious thumbing of their noses to the Destination St. Pete crowd.
— Destination St. Pete’s #1 problem was that it did not have a forceful advocate for it on the PSC. It had Kai Warren. I’ve worked with Kai Warren. He’s a passionate guy. He’s a well-liked guy. But he’s not enough of a political animal or strategist to maneuver something like Destination past a committee. If he’s ever been selected for jury duty, there’s no doubt he was not elected foreman.
— As much as I cherish the ‘burg’s globally recognized waterfront park system, very rarely do I run into a resident who says, “You know what St. Pete needs more of? More waterfront park space.” That’s what Pier Park essentially is, a mostly passive waterfront park, one that juts out into Tampa Bay rather than runs along it.
— I’m not predisposed to oppose this passive concept, just don’t try to convince me or anyone else that this design is “iconic.”
— My wife said to me last night after last night’s vote: “I’m never going there. I’m fair skinned and blonde. There’s no shade and I’ll burn.”
— Me to my wife in response: “We may never go to Pier Park, but it will look nice enough from the balcony of The Vinoy.”
— Consider how far, for better or worse, this process has traveled — we’ve gone from the controversial, but certainly iconic Lens design to an expanded version of Demens Landing and Vinoy Park.
— One of our most esteemed city fathers has a great idea: Put Destination St. Pete and Pier Park up for an either/or vote. DSP clearly represents the idea of keeping the inverted pyramid, for better or worse. Pier Park does not. Let the voters of St. Pete decide the matter once and for all.
— Will the City Council approve the PSC’s recommendation? I think so. Darden Rice immediately declared she would be voting to approve Pier Park. I can’t see Steve Kornell or Karl Nurse opposing it, especially since large swaths of the political bases apparently support Pier Park. Charlie Gerdes will do what Mayor Rick Kriseman asks him to do and that’s “build a damn Pier.” That’s four for-sure votes.
— Bill Dudley may hear it from some of his neighbors in northeast St. Pete, but doesn’t he want to see ground broken on a new Pier before he leaves office? That’s five votes. I genuinely don’t know what Jim Kennedy thinks.
— Wengay Newton will likely oppose approval. He told the media Thursday, “(It’s) very simple, cut and clear … Destination was the one that was number one (with the public).”
— Amy Foster may mount some form of opposition to Pier Park, but she can count votes better than I and she may come to the conclusion that this trying to block Pier Park is not worth the fight.
— Is this a win for Rick Kriseman? I guess so, although by the time he’s up for re-election it’s likely there will only be an empty hole where the inverted pyramid stood. Kriseman still needs a lot to go right before he can claim victory.
