Before St. Petersburg was officially recognized as a city in 1892, it had a pier. The Orange Belt Railway Pier, built three years prior, served as a sight seeing spot for train travelers and housed a recreational resort. It served as St. Petersburg’s first attraction, laying the groundwork for the city’s tourism-fueled economy that persists more than a century later.
In 1909, the city purchased the stretch of waterfront property from Second Avenue North to Fifth Avenue North and made it a public park. The purchase fostered the waterfront’s transition from industrial workplace to international tourist destination.
The waterfront served as the land base for four more piers: the Electric Pier in 1906, the Municipal Pier in 1914, the Million Dollar Pier in 1926 and, finally, the St. Petersburg Pier in 1973.
Forty years later, the fate of the pier hangs in limbo, after residents voted to terminate the Lens contract on Aug. 27. Now, as the inverted pyramid structure sits in the bay, vacant and useless, plans to revamp the entire downtown waterfront are being discussed.
USF St. Petersburg hosted the first public input forum to develop a new downtown waterfront master plan on Monday, Sept. 9. About 200 residents and local
leaders, including USFSP Chancellor Wisniewksa and Mayor Bill Foster, met in the University Student Center ballroom for a collaborative brainstorming session.
Before each workgroup began answering a 22-question survey, Wisniewska took the stage to welcome attendees and discuss the waterfront’s importance to USFSP.
“Anything that can be done to protect [the waterfront] would be good for our university,” she said, explaining that USFSP is always looking for ways to “enhance the student experience.”
Citing the collaboration between the USF College of Marine Science, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and USF Health, Wisniewska proclaimed USFSP as the “intellectual anchor” of the downtown waterfront.
From as far north as Coffee Pot Bayou to as far south as Lassing Park, the group was asked what it wanted for the waterfront’s future. Al Lang Field, Albert Whitted Airport, the Port of St. Petersburg, Bayboro Harbor, the Salt Creek Marine Service District and the pier were all hot on the agenda.
Data collected from the forum will go to a panel from the Urban Land Institute, who will provide insight and ideas on how to use the waterfront land most responsibly.
The ULI is an international nonprofit research and education organization with members in real estate related professions, including developers, builders, architects, engineers, accountants, attorneys, planners and brokers.
Eighty percent of the $125,000 used to bring the ULI to town came from private donors. The rest came from resident tax dollars.
Forum participants were asked to describe the waterfront’s character as it is now, as well as how they would like to see it in the future. They ranked terms like “center of culture and art,” “economic driver/investment stimulator” and “tourist and visitor destination” on a scale of relevance.
According to the survey, the plan is intended to “provide an overall vision” of the waterfront, serving as an “umbrella policy document.” It is not meant to provide specific details for projects like the pier.
Certain aspects of the waterfront already have their own master plans. The downtown waterfront master plan will either reinforce those plans or change them.
For example, the plan for the Port of St. Petersburg calls for a “mega-yacht facility and the ‘Port Discovery’ concept of marine-related research and education uses.”
The survey asked participants if they support the master plan for the port and what other uses they would suggest.
In his speech to forum attendees, Foster called the waterfront master plan one of the city’s most important endeavors. He emphasized the significance of the public’s wants and needs, saying, “No one will sleep ever again when it comes to your input on this waterfront.”
After considering the ULI’s recommendations, which are expected in early January, city officials will develop and adopt an official master plan. However, with a mandatory deadline not set until July 2015, it’s unlikely the waterfront’s facelift will begin any time soon.
The ULI will host a week of interviews and panel discussions, which begins with a public reception on Monday, Sept. 30, time and place to be determined.
