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Treasure Island bridge price rises, falls on finer features
By KATHY SAUNDERS TREASURE ISLAND -- It seems building a bridge is a lot like buying a car. There's the stripped-down model with crank windows; the four-door sedan with CD player standard; or the luxury car with global positioning. Style dictates price. On Tuesday, bridge consultants described the city's Causeway project in similar terms. The first of three options, with a cost around $47-million, is the basic Department of Transportation drawbridge with standard traffic and pedestrian rails and lights. It would look a lot like the John's Pass Bridge. The next bridge up uses the same engineering structure but has fancy rails, light posts and piers and costs at least $55-million. In the third scenario, consultants said the city could select a theme and design a drawbridge to match that style. Prices start at $80-million, according to engineers from EC Driver & Associates, hired by the city to study the choices. City officials have said they would like the new bridge to have some unique features, but they probably can't afford to have one designed from scratch. They expect to pay between $50-million and $60-million to replace the rapidly deteriorating drawbridge by 2005. Residents will have a chance to share their thoughts during a public hearing scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 5, before the regularly scheduled commission meeting in City Hall, 120 108th Ave. Design is the second of three elements that must be addressed before the bridge is rebuilt. The first is alignment. Consultants already have said the bridge can be built in the same place as the existing structure. The final decision is the height. But commissioners first want to choose a style because the smaller approach bridges on either side of the bascule bridge need to be designed this spring. Treasure Island expects to receive a $5-million grant to rebuild the east and west approaches, provided that construction can begin this year. Coast Guard officials want the new bridge to be at least 21 feet off the mean low water line at the bridge fenders. The existing bridge is 9 feet off the center and about 7 feet off the water at the fenders. According to their contract with the city, EC Driver engineers have until August to finalize the bridge plans. On Tuesday, they also offered some concrete ideas for the theme. The city could continue the Art Moderne style of the existing bridge that was built in 1939. It's an offshoot of the Art Deco style developed in the 1920s and '30s with curved corners. Consultant Jim Phillips said the Treasure Island bridge was designed to look like the boat traffic of that period. Another theme is contemporary with clean lines, minimal ornaments and color accents. The bridge also could reflect a Mediterranean Revival theme with arches, tile roofs, stucco walls and shaded niches and colonnades. Phillips showed photos of the Don CeSar Beach Resort & Spa as an example. His final suggestion was the Florida Vernacular style that is being used in some of Treasure Island's redevelopment such as the clock tower downtown. Phillips described the style as clean and simple with shutters on the control tower windows and broad overhangs. Because the existing bridge is eligible as a national historic structure, the consultants are working with the state's historic preservation officer to save some portion of the bridge or its memory. Phillips said the city could repeat the style of the existing bridge in its new design or it could build a new structure and erect a monument to the old bridge. For instance, he said the city could move a portion of the old railing to one of the city parks as a historical marker. As the new bridge is being designed, engineers said residents could view the renderings from several vantage points on a special Web site for the project. That address is: www.ti-causeway.com.
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