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From information I've been getting for three months, it appears that no solution is in sight for public transit users to the Westfield Shoppingtown Countryside mall.
On May 16, all the bus routes serving this large shopping area, except for Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority Route 19, will be forced to suspend service onto Westfield's property. Persons not using Route 19 will be required to walk up and down a sloped area longer than a football field to reach the transit route they need or the mall services they wish to use.
The mall's office has told me they aren't providing "off-street" bus loading areas because of parking requirements. PSTA has told me in essence that meetings with Westfield management have not produced any additional accommodation for transit users to access their needed transportation. Assuming this is correct - and I do - Westfield management has an intransigent position. Transit passengers need to safely and with some degree of comfort wait for or access their means of transportation in a designated area within the outer environs.
Five or six current parking spaces and some shelter space don't seem an unreasonable accommodation request, considering the high number of people who use Westfield's services whose mode of transportation is a bus.
Re: Eckerd Hall now cramped, not comfortable, after renovation, letter, April 4, and Eckerd Hall's changes are all for the better, letter, April 7.
After seeing two opinions concerning renovated Ruth Eckerd Hall, I had to write to state that the only improvement I have observed is in the ladies' room. At least now the ladies are able to use it during intermission and return in time for the second act.
However, this has to be one of the most uncomfortable theaters I have been in. I am 5 feet 2 and weigh 117 pounds. I barely fit in those new seats. Just imagine my poor husband, who is 6 feet tall and weighs 250 pounds plus. It is indeed cruel and unusual punishment for him. We would love to go see more performances at the hall, but it will be a rare event to suffer from such discomfort to see a show.
Well, there it is, finished, the new Clearwater Main Library downtown. From the outside it looks like a house trailer with a pop-out awning and a clothes rack on top. Without a doubt it is the homeliest building in town.
How do these things happen? It is my opinion that a local architect, working with a Mediterranean theme, could have served our community much better.