St. Petersburg Pier Redesign

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by chi_tino

Navy Pier in Chicago charges $20 on weekdays and $24 on weekends to park.

Are you actually claiming that the $1/hour on a meter or a $3 fixed rate that the St Pete Pier charges to park is "expensive"?

Perhaps you need to leave the area code sometime and see what goes on in the real world. Parking EVERYWHERE in St Pete (even the Trop) is dirt, dirt cheap.

Yes, I agree, parking is dirt-cheap and they also have a LOT of it! I can't believe anyone is complaining that it is expensive - wow. And we LOVE the parking lots at the Pier - for a few bucks for a whole DAY we can go and attend festivals or do anything we want without worrying about it. And I will just go on record as saying that while I don't remember the old "Million $ Pier too well, I liked it as I like the Pyramid and am now intriqued by the new designs.

[SoManyPlaces]

*Sigh*...I am going to get slammed for being harsh I don't want to see a large chunk of concrete out in the water. OK, I *do* see the artistic merit..........however, not for a pier.

To me a pier should be wide open with food/snacks etc., an area for fishing, tables for relaxing out in the open, restrooms...so forth.

Small statues along the way would be a simple way to honor the arts.

I know I am in a very small minority here LOL, but I have always felt the ocean, boats and sea life should be the focus of being out on a pier, not the pier itself. Limited thinking? Likely, yes, but of course it is jmho.

[Quikpick]

We loved visiting the pier this fall (on Thanksgiving). Definitely check it out when you can! We expected the whole area to be very quiet, but instead it was hopping. Found street parking nearby and paid the meter for the afternoon (over the phone, which was awesome). We just moved here recently and I was surprised to hear that the pier is going to be redone (again, because I thought the whole experience was fabulous that afternoon). On further reflection, I can see where some updates would benefit the town & public. But I'm already nostalgic for it.

[Eastern Roamer]

Originally Posted by Eastern Roamer

I don't think the designers fully appreciate where they are building. They just designed things that seem great in theory. "The Lens" seems like the only one that would even be practical in reality in that it would cost less to maintain and could create usable space.

The other two are somehow under the impression that people want to swim in Tampa Bay. Downtown St. Pete does not need a beach. I mean, it's the bay... the water is kind of gross most of the time. "The Wave" has a lot of cool ideas but I can't help but imagine a bunch of employees sitting around doing nothing because nobody came to visit the indoor snowboarding hill or the Turkish bath or whatever. It sounds like a collossal money pit and a waste of space that would fall into disrepair.

Well, it looks like the panel agreed with me... The Lens won. Horay! (Forgive me if it seems like I'm gloating, but this sort of thing doesn't happen for me very often.)

I think the docks will go to good use. The bay is for boating, not for swiming.

Jury picks Lens design as favorite for new St. Petersburg Pier - Tampa Bay Times