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Wish list for park waits one detail
By AMY WIMMER
© St. Petersburg Times, ST. PETE BEACH -- A boardwalk. A band shell. Tennis courts, basketball courts and a swimming pool. Maybe even a water park or a new library. On Tuesday city commissioners considered their soon-to-be-vacant City Hall property, a waterfront expanse by the Corey Causeway that they hope to turn into a showpiece. Their brainstorms were unimpeded by budget constraints. The park has neither a focus nor a price tag at this point. What the complex does have is city offices, and commissioners first must decide the fate of those buildings. Almost all administrative staffers are moving into the new City Hall, but public works still needs a home. Until commissioners decide where to move those employees, they cannot raze the old Misener building and city garage -- a property where some of those employees work and one that commissioners are eager to turn into green space. The commission discussed several options Tuesday: Expanding the current public works building on Boca Ciega Drive. The commission has discussed expansion plans before, Mayor Ward Friszolowski said he would rather move public works away from the new park. "I'm still resistant on putting public works on our waterfront property," Friszolowski said. Moving public works to another location on the city's north end, which would involve buying new property and building a new facility. The city also is rethinking whether all of its public works functions are necessary -- namely, the city's in-house sign shop. "Is that an effective use of our dollars to have our own sign shop?" Friszolowski asked. Community Services Director Mike Knotek had planned for a 1,600-square-foot public works building, and about 600 feet of that space would be used by the sign shop. The shop must be air-conditioned, adding to the project's cost. Though the city's sign shop makes signs cheaply, the work also could be contracted out. "What we produce is well below the market price," Knotek said. "The problem is we don't produce enough in quantity. It's not because we can't produce the quantity. It's just because you only have so many signs to make." Finally, Friszolowski suggested looking beyond St. Pete Beach for a new public works station because beach property is expensive. "We don't really have industrial properties in St. Pete Beach, so it makes it a little more difficult," Friszolowski said. Commissioner Peter Blank reminded the commission that the farther public works employees must travel, the higher the city's gasoline and insurance costs would be. After the city settles on a new public works site, it will move on to envisioning the new park. Blank suggested hiring a professional park designer to research the city's parks needs and what would work best on the site. In a "visioning survey" the city conducted last summer, staffers asked selected community leaders what they would like to see on the old City Hall site. Among the most popular choices were a band shell, walking trails, passive green space, a marina and space for community classrooms. Sixty-three percent of respondents also said they would like to see a boardwalk underneath the Corey Causeway Bridge to connect the new park with Corey Avenue. "We can build a promenade down there that would be second to none," Blank said. Friszolowski also had big ideas. He suggested building a new library close to Boca Ciega Drive, leaving the waterfront open for green space. He also suggested the city could demolish City Hall but leave Legion Hall and the gymnasium, both popular with the public, until the commission could settle on a plan to update or replace those buildings. "The current library either could be sold to help fund some of these projects, or if it's affordable, we've talked about enhancing the Corey area, and parking's always an issue," Friszolowski said, suggesting using the current library as a Corey Avenue parking facility. "There are lots of grants available for both library and recreational uses," he continued. "It starts to make it attractive to at least look and think about." The new City Hall, which will cost $3.94-million by the latest estimates, is scheduled to open by next spring.
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