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USF garage to house bookstore

By JON WILSON
Published May 4, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Launching the second major university building project in a month, officials broke ground Tuesday for a parking garage that will contain a two-story Barnes & Noble bookstore.

On the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue S and Third Street, the complex will serve the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus. It will also include the campus police and parking services headquarters.

But the 15,000-square-foot bookstore intends to draw customers from beyond the college community.

General interest books and the signature Barnes & Noble coffee shop are included in the plans. Parking will be available for community members, regional chancellor Karen White said.

The store will have the same square footage as the Barnes & Noble on Tyrone Boulevard. Actual construction begins in July, with completion set for summer 2006.

Bayboro Books, a fixture on the USF St. Petersburg campus for more than 20 years, will remain, owner Susan Comas said.

"I'm not going to let 'em scare us away. We're a service and some people just do appreciate the independent stores," Comas said. Bayboro is a couple of blocks away at 121 Seventh Ave. S.

The combination parking garage/bookstore/police headquarters, a $14-million project, is part of the campus' overall $100-million construction plan that extends through 2020.

The parking garage will offer about 1,100 spaces, about six times as many as the number available now on the site, which is an asphalt parking lot. The whole complex will include more than 356,112 square feet.

[Last modified May 4, 2005, 00:57:19]