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Some feel left out of Pier plan

The council delays hiring a consultant to study the site's future.

By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published October 25, 2006

The City Council is questioning the mayor's suggestion to hire a $262,000 Virginia consultant to come up with a plan on how to plan the future of the Pier.

Among the consultant's proposed tasks: Travel to other popular tourist destinations across the country and world to see their successes.

The consultant also would collect resident input and develop strategies for St. Petersburg's iconic waterfront tourist attraction. The suggestions could range from tearing the whole Pier down, to simply adding new restaurants or shops, to rebuilding the structure completely.

The process would take 32 weeks, said the consultant, Rhodeside & Harwell. It would not include official engineering or architectural drawings for the future Pier. That would be left for someone else.

Council members, who are beginning to discuss the future for the upside-down pyramid and waterfront approach, were surprised so much had already been contemplated without their input.

The urban design consultant was unveiled by Mayor Rick Baker and his staff at a Pier "visioning" workshop last week.

Council members postponed a decision to pay for the Pier consultant, with many seeming reluctant to spend so much.

"It was a Pier visioning workshop, which to me means we're all going to sit down, eight council members, one mayor, and lay out a vision for the Pier," said council chairman Bill Foster.

"When we go there, we already had the vision. It was handed to us."

The city has committed $50-million in downtown tax dollars starting in 2009 to renovate the Pier. But much of that money will likely be spent repairing or replacing the Pier approach, which has been weakened over time by saltwater.

City officials are debating what to do with the five-story structure itself, as well as how to attract more visitors and how to transport them to the Pier faster.

"I think we can get there for less than $260,000," said council member John Bryan, suggesting some of the consultant work could be done by the city staff.

"They're probably very reputable," said council member Jamie Bennett. But this will be at least a $50-million project, Bennett said, and to "just simply proceed and just bring us the winner was a little bit off."

"People get upset when they're left out of the loop," Bennett said.

The council will meet with city staffers Nov. 16 to continue the discussion about the Pier and the consultant. David Metz, director of the city's Downtown Enterprise Facilities, which includes the Pier, said city officials would look for ways to reduce consultant costs.

"Before we start to design anything, we really want to look at these other tourist attractions, to look at the best practices, and the strengths and weaknesses," Metz said. "It's part of the education process."

The Pier has been a downtown landmark since 1899, and now attracts more than 1.5-million visitors a year, according to the city.

The attraction is owned by the city but managed by a private company.

It lost $1.2-million in 2005, according to budget figures.

[Last modified October 24, 2006, 22:32:33]