Based on preliminary preferences expressed by the six members of the Pier Selection Committee, the group appears poised to approve a design not in the public’s top three choices.
Each member of the group took turns ranking the remaining four designs after nearly eight hours of discussion. Those designs include Destination St. Pete, Pier Park, the Alma and Prospect Pier.
The committee has officially voted Prospect Pier out of the process at number four.
Based on averages of all of the rankings, the Alma is leading the other three designs. It’s followed by Pier Park and Destination St. Pete.
Destination St. Pete Pier overwhelmingly won public approval during both the city’s public survey process and an external poll by St. Pete Polls.
The Alma was most championed by St. Pete Public Works Administrator Mike Connors.
“If and when a renovated pyramid will be completed, it will have been in existence for 50 years,” Connors said.
That means that if Destination St. Pete or Prospect Pier were chosen as the committee’s preferred design and construction ultimately completed, the inverted pyramid will live to be 125-years old.
Connors, who chairs the committee and is the only member of the city staff to have a voting role in the selection process, indicated early in the meeting that he was leaning away from the public’s top pick, Destination St. Pete.
The meeting began by going over some of the technical components of the pier selection process, including preferred technical aspects that should be offered in a winning design.
After presentations overviewing those requirements, the committee then meticulously went through each of the seven designs that had been shortlisted. That included short videos and discussion of 14 different aspects of the designs.
Those included construction budget, permitability, operational costs, environmental awareness, programmatic desires, observation and viewing, dining options, transportation options, fishing, courtesy and transient docks, education center, event space, bike and watercraft rentals and retail space.
From there, the committee meticulously whittled away the seven designs to just four.
Members of the public who waited through hours of debate bombarded the guest podiums as the committee voted to place Destination St. Pete Pier at number three while leaving two of the lower-ranked designs sneaking into the one and two spots.
“You totally are ignoring the will of the public,” David Harris started off. He was followed by numerous others.
If the rankings hold by the time this meeting finally finishes up, City Council will be charged with an up or down vote of the top -ranked team.
Based on averages, that would be the Alma. That design was ranked in the bottom three in the city’s survey and dead last in the St. Pete Polls survey.
The committee has yet to officially determine whether the Alma will edge out Pier Park, but the Alma has support in the gallery, including Casey Gonzmart of the Columbia Restaurant group. Pier Park does not.
The prospect of ousting the public’s top pick surely raises questions about whether or not another outreach effort against the Alma could lead to another ballot referendum to kill an eventual contract.
“I don’t want to go through another whole process where a community is split,” said local business leader and likely City Council candidate Ed Montanari.
Déjà vu can probably sum up fears of council members as the city inches closer to choosing a pier design unfavorable among those most engaged.
