New director cleans up port's image

By JON WILSON

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 4, 2001

An occasional article about activity on south Pinellas County's Tampa Bay waterfront.

ST. PETERSBURG -- Nick Christensen's eyes light up when he starts talking about the Port of St. Petersburg.

Director of operations for the port, Christensen stalks 1,200 feet of city-owned wharf, pointing out visiting boats moored there. He describes the city's marine resource on Eighth Avenue SE as being "a diamond in the rough." He proudly shows off a lighted display suggesting what the port could look like a few years down the road.

Christensen signed on about six months ago.

He jokes that port director Michael Perez told him this: "I didn't promise you anything but a port, and you better go find it!"

There was, in fact, the makings of one. But much of it seemed to be buried under debris that had accumulated on the wharf.

"It looked like a big, steel junkyard," Christensen said. There were even a few homeless people burrowing amid the tangle, he said.

Now it's cleaned up. You could play a soccer game there. And for those still wondering, the Russian submarine left in December, and an old, boarded-up car ferry departed months earlier. The warehouse space is 100 percent leased, Christensen said.

So the port, the smallest of Florida's 14, is primed for a new era.

City plans are ambitious. They call for the port to become a destination for tour boats and a dock for research vessels and private yachts in the 100- to 200-foot range. Collaboration with the University of South Florida on a maritime research and education project has been discussed.

Channel enlargement is a possibility. The current 250-foot long, 22-foot deep channel could be enlarged to, say 400 feet long and 35 deep, Christensen said.

"With that, we could take anything that could fit under the Skyway," Christensen said.

Anything, that is, that would fit with the port's desire to cultivate a clean, environmentally friendly image.

For example, "We wouldn't be bringing in fuel," Christensen said.

At the moment, the port operation is running on a relatively budgetary shoestring. But it is the future that drives Christensen's enthusiasm.

"I'm one of the few people who get a chance to actually build a port," he said.

Motorists and pedestrians on Eighth Avenue SE can't help but notice the six sleek Coast Guard boats parked in a port parking lot.

They belong to Port Security Unit 307, one of six such units scattered around the United States. The others are at Fort Eustis, Va.; Port Clinton, Ohio; Gulfport, Miss.; San Pedro, Calif.; and Tacoma, Wash.

On training or missions, the 25-foot Boston Whalers, powered by twin 175-horsepower engines, carry two machine guns, one a .50-caliber. The unit is staffed by 140 reservists and five active duty Coast Guard personnel.

Their mission includes anti-terrorist operations.

It isn't that St. Petersburg is a target, or that it needs beefed-up security more than other ports. The units deploy anywhere they are needed; Unit 307 happens to be stationed here. Units were called to duty during the Gulf War and Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti, for example.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard cutter Venturous soon will go on patrol in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Among other law-enforcement activities, its crew will look for drug smugglers. The 210-foot ship will probably be gone until early spring.

The 150-foot Ryan T., a private research vessel out of New Orleans, moored at the port last week and likely will be in and out for the next few weeks. It is on a surveying mission to collect data about Tampa Bay.

The crew likes the location, but Capt. Kenny Russell noted one problem: No grocery stores near downtown would accept telephone credit-card orders. So the crew had to drive to a store in Palmetto -- south across the Skyway -- to get its food.

The Incredible Dog Challenge had its day Saturday on The Pier, as did a classic Volkswagen show. Today custom cars of all makes and models take over. Show hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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