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Sunset Beach starts to see its way clear for a park
By KATHY SAUNDERS © St. Petersburg Times, published January 7, 2001 TREASURE ISLAND -- Mayor Leon Atkinson wants first crack at the old Dilley house on Sunset Beach. He calls City Hall daily to see when the building will be demolished. "I want to be instrumental in getting that sucker out of there," said Atkinson, who has campaigned since 1994 to share the beach vistas with the public. "That has been a very, very big issue to me." Restaurant owner Gus Scholle wants to know, too. He's planning a celebration. The beachfront house and former bait shop should be torn down in the next couple of weeks, said City Manager Chuck Coward. The city bought the land Dec. 22 for $731,745 to open the waterfront and eventually develop a park at the entrance to Sunset Beach. All but about $6,700 of the purchase price was paid by a grant from the Florida Communities Trust. The state grant bought two other parcels at the same site -- the intersection of Gulf and W Gulf boulevards. The city plans to close Jan. 30 on property owned by All Children's Hospital. That is expected to cost $175,000. In February, the grant also will cover the purchase of six lots owned by brothers Frederick and Clarence Pheil of Chesterfield, N.C. The price is $300,000. "With those three properties we've got a project, we have a park," said Coward. The Trust for Public Lands, on the city's behalf, is still negotiating with the owners of a fourth parcel on the southern end of the proposed park. That parcel, where a former convenience store sits, is owned by the estate of Gary Noordhoek, who was killed in the summer of 1996. The 38-year-old Ellenton man was shot to death in a warehouse apartment at Special Concepts in unincorporated Pinellas County. The murder of the businessman is unsolved and still under investigation, said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Marianne Pasha. Representatives of the private trust, which has agreed to buy the property until the city has the money to pay for it, are having trouble contacting Noordhoek's father, Harold, who lives in Miami. Coward said the city may have to decide this year whether it wants to proceed with the development of Sunset Vista Trailhead Park without that parcel. The state grant money will run out after the Pheil purchase, so the city would have to pay for the Noordhoek property itself or seek another grant. Meanwhile, the city has hired Sonny Glassbrenner to demolish the house and clear the property that Martha Dilley and her late husband, Earl, had owned since 1969. "We are going to tear the building down, clean up the property and do some environmental work," Coward said. Scholle, who owns the Islander Grill across the street from the beach, is thrilled about the demolition. On the day Glassbrenner shows up, Scholle plans a party with a champagne toast. Next year, the city will begin the development of a 2-acre passive park with natural vegetation, trails made of shell, and sand dunes. Plans also call for a sunset viewing platform made of sand rising above the dunes. Eventually, the city wants to connect its beachfront trail with the Sunset Vista Trailhead Park. The trail runs behind the hotels on the city's main stretch of beach near 107th/Central Avenue.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
