A virtual tour of the new St. Pete Pier

[thelakelander]

Ever wonder how much a real first class urban waterfront park will cost? The new $92 million St. Pete Pier can serve as a good baseline. Also of note, many first class urban waterfront parks do include retail. With several restaurants, bars, history museum, aquarium and an outdoor public market, the St. Pete Pier is no exception.

Planned as a destination for everyone, the recently opened St. Pete Pier has instantly become one of Florida's premier urban waterfront public spaces. Constructed at the cost of $92 million, here are a few sights and scenes from a busy July 2020 weekend.

Read More: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/a-virtual-tour-of-the-new-st-pete-pier/

[Charles Hunter]

Very impressive.  Is that the same "upside-down pyramid" that's always been on the St. Pete Pier, or is it new? I couldn't really tell from the photo essay.

I had to look up the "Bending Arc" - very interesting: https://www.echelman.com/st-petersburg-fl

[fieldafm]

Very impressive.  Is that the same "upside-down pyramid" that's always been on the St. Pete Pier, or is it new? I couldn't really tell from the photo essay.

I had to look up the "Bending Arc" - very interesting: https://www.echelman.com/st-petersburg-fl

The previous inverted pyramid pier was torn down about 5 years ago.  All in, about 8 years worth of various forms of public participation (including a voter referendum) resulted in what is seen in this article.   

Unlike the Jacksonville Landing site, which was torn down using $25mm in taxpayer funds and is presently used by a few homeless people that take naps underneath the remaining tree canopy that exists on site.... without any public input.

The Landing has been closed now for 14 months.

[Charles Hunter]

Thanks, I haven't been near the pier in St. Pete for awhile. I didn't think I saw the old building in those pictures.

[MusicMan]

Looks like they got their moneys worth.

[BridgeTroll]

Hmmm... I see a weekend staycation in my future... 

[marcuscnelson]

Is it just me or do those trams hold more people than the U2C?

[marcuscnelson]

Jokes aside, it really does look gorgeous, but that's exactly what makes me nervous. I don't think I'd be alone on here in questioning the competence or will of our current leadership to invest in anything even close to this. Even if we had $92 million sitting around in a city bank account right now, I'm not confident that we would be able to do something like this without turning it into a complete and utter mess somehow. Even if you argue that with the Landing gone, there's now a blank slate to build something really cool, I'm not sure we could do it. I guess that's an indictment of Jacksonville's leadership, but it probably should be.

[thelakelander]

It's not just you. They have higher capacity:





If it were not for it having so many pedestrians, this park would be the perfect place for the AVs that JTA are interested in. In current conditions, driverless would probably run over someone's kid or dog. In the future, once the technology catches up, they could be ideal for the setting.

[thelakelander]

Jokes aside, it really does look gorgeous, but that's exactly what makes me nervous. I don't think I'd be alone on here in questioning the competence or will of our current leadership to invest in anything even close to this. Even if we had $92 million sitting around in a city bank account right now, I'm not confident that we would be able to do something like this without turning it into a complete and utter mess somehow. Even if you argue that with the Landing gone, there's now a blank slate to build something really cool, I'm not sure we could do it. I guess that's an indictment of Jacksonville's leadership, but it probably should be.

Even this project wasn't exactly a blank slate. Some of the parking and buildings have been there for decades. They were incorporated into the project just like most of the existing trees.

Jokes aside, it really does look gorgeous, but that's exactly what makes me nervous. I don't think I'd be alone on here in questioning the competence or will of our current leadership to invest in anything even close to this. Even if we had $92 million sitting around in a city bank account right now, I'm not confident that we would be able to do something like this without turning it into a complete and utter mess somehow.

One could argue that the mess could be Lot J. We clearly have the money or are willing to borrow it. Lot J will require more than twice as much public money to pull off and likely won't have a fraction of the economic benefit on downtown or be as attractive to a diverse demographic of the local community.

[jaxlongtimer]

A few comments and questions:

1) The old Pier had the Columbia Restaurant in the inverted pyramid at the end.  It looks like the current eating establishments are less formal/upscale based on their names.  Did the Columbia rebuild elsewhere in St. Pete?  I know there are ones in Tampa and Sarasota so maybe they didn't feel the need to replace the one here they lost.

2) The replica Bounty from the movie "Mutiny on the Bounty" was home based/docked at the end of the old pier before it sunk on a voyage through Hurricane Sandy in 2012.  Does the pier have the capacity to dock visiting yachts, historic sailing ships or other larger vessels too?  Maybe even a small Navy ship?

3) Surprised there is still some parking/cars on the new pier.  I expected the elimination of all but service and emergency vehicles would have been a major goal of the new concept and the main reason for the rebuild as the old pier allowed cars to drive to the very end of it, meaning the road took up much of the pier's square footage.

4) It seems there is a lot of concrete in the pictures.  Is it just my imagination, illusion, or for real?

5) How high is the pier?  Was it built to resist the "big one" when it comes?

6) Trying to recall:  Is the Spa Beach Park and other outcroppings added land fill?

Thanks for all the great pictures.  Looks like it turned out well.

[fieldafm]

That marina is about to be upgraded to include public docking facilities.  Meanwhile, three years later and the floating docks stretching from the Times Union Center for Performing Arts all the way to the Main Street Bridge are still destroyed and inaccessible for boat docking. Until construction of additional floating dock space adjacent to Friendship Fountain takes place (scheduled for 4th quarter of this year.. the current floating dock is only accessible for river taxi docking), there are still no public docking facilities along the Southbank Riverwalk.

If you put down the picturesque post card of the Jacksonville skyline, and actually look at things from a real-life, end-user perspective... its not hard to see why Downtown Jax struggles. 

[fieldafm]

A few comments and questions:

1) The old Pier had the Columbia Restaurant in the inverted pyramid at the end.  It looks like the current eating establishments are less formal/upscale based on their names.  Did the Columbia rebuild elsewhere in St. Pete?  I know there are ones in Tampa and Sarasota so maybe they didn't feel the need to replace the one here they lost.

2) The replica Bounty from the movie "Mutiny on the Bounty" was home based/docked at the end of the old pier before it sunk on a voyage through Hurricane Sandy in 2012.  Does the pier have the capacity to dock visiting yachts, historic sailing ships or other larger vessels too?  Maybe even a small Navy ship?

3) Surprised there is still some parking/cars on the new pier.  I expected the elimination of all but service and emergency vehicles would have been a major goal of the new concept and the main reason for the rebuild as the old pier allowed cars to drive to the very end of it, meaning the road took up much of the pier's square footage.

4) It seems there is a lot of concrete in the pictures.  Is it just my imagination, illusion, or for real?

5) How high is the pier?  Was it built to resist the "big one" when it comes?

6) Trying to recall:  Is the Spa Beach Park and other outcroppings added land fill?

Thanks for all the great pictures.  Looks like it turned out well.

1-Columbia did not reopen a new location in St Pete. There are still locations throughout the Bay Area in Tampa (2) and Clearwater.

2-I doubt St Pete would want to take on a money pit like a floating naval vessel museum. They have focused on residential development, streetscape improvements, public space improvement, clustering (probably one of the best cities in Florida in this regard) and pedestrian interaction with buildings through a form-based code... and less so on one-trick ponies. There is still a large municipal marina next to the Pier, as can be seen in these pictures.

3-The old pier was very focused on the inverted pyramid structure being the only real destination. The new pier park takes a more holistic view of the surrounding 28-30 acres... the basic tenants of clustering, complementary and contextually-sensitive uses in a compact setting- as preached here. As such, vehicular traffic and parking is nothing like the old pier.

4 and 5-There is a lot of concrete used, yes. The bulkheads along the shoreline park and stormwater systems along the Bayfront were all upgraded as part of the pier redevelopment.. specifically to address resiliency. From an end-user perspective, there are tons of soft features throughout the pier that don't make it feel like you are walking along a long, concrete driveway. 

6-Spa Beach has been around since the roaring 20's.  However, the park and other public spaces noted in this article did receive upgrades and enhancements as part of the newest pier redevelopment.  The lesson here is that they took what was already there and made plans to better integrate those existing amenities into the pier redevelopment.

[thelakelander]

Here's a map:

[thelakelander]

6-Spa Beach has been around since the roaring 20's.  However, the park and other public spaces noted in this article did receive upgrades and enhancements as part of the newest pier redevelopment.  The lesson here is that they took what was already there and made plans to better integrate those existing amenities into the pier redevelopment.

A big important lesson and a significant piece of the redevelopment puzzle. It should be common sense by now but it is clear that not everyone making redevelopment decisions get it. You enhance and add to your existing amenities in strengths. That's the complete opposite of wholesale demolition and hoping a rich sugar daddy sweeps in at some point in the future to save the day.