St. Petersburg residents might have their pier back by the spring. The inverted pyramid design came down in late 2015, and St. Petersburg City Architect Raul Quintana says that major construction on the new 26-acre, $80 million-plus new St. Pete Pier project should be done by the end of the year.
An exact date has not been decided, but the city expects the pier to be open early next year.
The news comes after some significant milestones for the project, including tram purchases, the unveiling of a logo, the dedication of the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center, initial construction of the pier’s tilted lawn and the formation of the pier’s general shape.
Once complete, the partially solar-powered pier will be home to a Doc Ford’s restaurant, a rooftop tiki bar, the aforementioned Tampa Bay Watch center, plenty of small businesses and a $1.3 million art installation created by Janet Echelman and funded by private donations.
Track the progress via newstpetepier.com.
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This article appears in Apr 11-18, 2019.