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Marina getting $6M facelift

A restoration project, 52 new slips and nine courtesy docks will give boaters reason to cheer.

By JON WILSON
Published July 23, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG -- Several projects are under way or being planned to update the city marina while making it a bit bigger and more convenient for boaters who want to tie up and go downtown.

You can see evidence of work while approaching the head of the Pier, where tools and trailers suggesting a construction project are visible just south of Second Avenue NE.

A crane squats in the water of the central basin. On Demens Landing, a fence near the Ship's Store barricades part of the marina point.

It's all part of a $6.3-million refurbishing project to improve docks, decking, pilings, slips and under-dock wires and water pipes.

Two 6,000-gallon fuel tanks will replace the two 4,000-gallon tanks at the store.

Meanwhile, permits have come through for 52 new slips in the south basin, officials say. That section of the marina lies between Demens Landing and Albert Whitted Airport.

A date to start work on the new slips will be determined after officials analyze the cost of the project, said Mike Connors, internal services administrator.

Permits require some treatment of stormwater entering the bay, and pumps to enhance tidal flow in the basin, Connors said.

Nine courtesy docks will be built starting in September at the marina's west wall near Fresco's restaurant, Connors said. The job should take a few weeks.

The free tie-ups will allow boaters to dock and come ashore to eat, shop or sightsee. City Council member John Bryan proposed courtesy docks last year after his idea of waterfront boardwalks died in the intricate permitting process.

The marina's central basin update represents the biggest fixup in the 610-slip facility since the 1980s, said Walter Miller, the city's port manager.

"It's really a major capital refurbishment of the marina to keep it going," Miller said. The marina is Florida's largest.

For John Q. Boater, it means a safer marina that will have a longer life span, he said.

But boaters who tie up temporarily will have to find another spot. The transient dock is expected to be closed until next July, when the project is scheduled to end.

The closure keeps any of the marina's permanent residents from having to move, Miller said.

Marina residents generally seem to be taking the work well, said Paul Barbour, president of the Old Bayside Neighborhood and Marina Association. He said no major issues have emerged.

"They have gone out of their way to make this work for the boaters. They found slips for everybody," Barbour said.

Over at the privately owned Vinoy Marina, north of the Pier approach, plans proceed to reopen about 70 boat slips there.

They were wrecked a year ago during Hurricane Dennis, which brought three days of east wind and 4- to 5-foot waves into the basin.

"We're shooting for July of next year," said Howard Kornack, the Vinoy dockmaster.

[Last modified July 22, 2006, 20:31:04]