Skip to main content

Replacing The Pier


This picture was taken during the Thanksgiving weekend and is the Pier, an inverted pyramid that is the mecca for tourist activities here in St. Pete.  It was constructed in the 60's and has been a focal point for the downtown area.  It has been decided by the city fathers that it must be razed and replaced.  Old age has taken its toll on the footings and the cost of renovation makes it easier to tear down than maintain.  The city held auditions for architects worldwide a few months ago and their task was to come up with a replacement.  Three finalists were selected and their designs follow.  50 million dollars was allocated.  



The first design, and incidentally my favorite, is called the Wave.  I like its totally unique look. Inside the wave would be a restaurant, a wave room, a bubble room and various other features.  Its iconic, aint nothing else like it.




Next up is this jellyfish looking pavilion.  Boring. Called the Eye. 



Gee, you have to stick a high-flying pelican in the corner to add interest in this artist rendition.  First, boring is boring regardless of artistic license.  Secondly pelicans skim the sea, sometimes dipping their wing tips in the water, and rarely do they fly higher than 50 feet.  Good Lord, that bird is like 5000 feet high.



Third is this interesting double-helix like walkway out to a display celebrating the city's marine heritage.  This is called the Lens. This would be my second choice, and I like it a lot, but it lacks the instantaneous recognition factor. 



The next step is a forum to gather public response, then the city will award the work to one of the firms.  The mayor just announced that the pier will close around October and work will begin.  The committee is deciding within a couple of weeks which design will be utilized.  I say go big, go different, and go iconic. like the Arch in St. Louis.  However, and this is a big however, 50 million won't get it done, by a long shot.  The respective design companies are backtracking and trying to shave expenses such as making walkway to building shorter, then you lose some of the majesty.  One company is now saying in order to save money on the project that dumping old building along the bay instead of the gulf would be best.  It will be interesting to see what St. Pete comes up with, but for my money, it's best to spend more than you have in order to get a viable, world-wide-recognizeable landmark that will bring in future tourists and their dollars.  

And guess what?  You won't have to wait long to find out which design wins.  Tomorrow, I'll let you know.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless.  Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001.  It was one of those things that can generate crime:  two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job.   Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things.  Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold.   But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find.   His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead.  He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds.  He will be paralyzed for life.   None of this is pleasant.  Reading the f...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Mary Davis Home - Part 2

None of these pictures were taken by me,  they came right from the MDH website.  I am posting these so that friends who have never seen inside where I worked can gain access.  After 27 years I have many stories, tales and acquaintances.  But, I wouldn't know how to express them appropriately in a few paragraphs.  I enjoyed 98% of my stay there and hope I made a difference in the lives of a fraction of the kids who entered.  The original MDH at this site was just the front part.  The large red-roofed area in back was added on in the 90's. This is the Jerry Carlton library.  It was unofficially named after one of the counselors who truly loved the place.   He passed away around 2002, I think.  Mr. Farber looks like he is explaining a few things to a client. The classroom. Activity area with the gym behind the windows. Another shot of the classroom. It was a little different area to teach since we had 2 classes and 2 teachers i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Statuary In North Straub Park

The Vinoy is not the only park in town.  The place is fairly littered with them, and almost all, except Bum Paradise, are pretty nice.  This is North Straub and they have some old pieces in that seem to have suffered from time and perhaps human folly.     These and some 30 other statues were imported from Italy by local developer C. Perry Snell to help beautify the city.  Mr. Snell was in real estate and during the depression he went on a European shopping trip to collect items for the city.  He obtained these from Italy and installed them in this park even after the bottom fell in the markets.  He fulfilled his obligations at great personal loss to his own company and wealth.  Halso continued to pay his staff during those tough times.  He developed many areas in the city, Vinoy, Snell Isle, Crescent Lake and the beach area down around Fort DeSoto.  He lived from 1869 until 1949 and then buried in Kentucky.  I wo...
Post a Comment
Read more