As the unpopularity of The Lens stays strong, so do attempts to keep the design alive.
While disapproval for the replacement for the St. Petersburg Pier hovers at just above 60 percent, it hasn’t stopped the pro-Lens group Build The Pier. The group announced they would continue the aggressive campaign to “educate” voters in advance of the Aug. 27 referendum.
The original list of Build The Pier was 15 emerging professions, along with a small group of local volunteers and supporters. Now, the group announced they have quickly grown to 30 co-chairs, including “community leaders, business owners, three former Pier Advisory Task Force members, and national and local political professionals.”
In addition to running advertising online and on TV, as well as hosting several events per week, BuildThePier boasts the addition of 15 co-chairs, with people like St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Board Member Gregory Holden, Ed Montanari and local attorneys Michael Igel and Vincent Carl LoBue.
In a statement released Tuesday, BuildThePier claims to have raised more than $40,000 in their struggle against terminating the Michael Maltzan contract. When adding in-kind contribution, the total rises to more than $50,000. What’s more, they say that with over 2,100 Facebook likes, they have nearly tripled the amount received by Stop the Lens, the group’s primary opponents.
The single focus of the BuildThePier campaign is to call for a “no” vote in the city primary election almost three weeks away.
