Designing new St. Pete Pier slow, expensive

First, a special task force held 63 meetings before making a handful of recommendations on what to do with The Pier, the city's iconic inverted pyramid that looms over St. Petersburg's picturesque waterfront.

Those suggestions, released last year, essentially said either replace the approach to The Pier or slash its length and erect a new building. Whatever the alternative, the approach would remain straight.

Then, earlier this year, Lewis Ajamil, whose firm was paid to help the task force, presented an array of possibilities that called for curved approaches to whatever lies at the approach's end.

Now, the city is again discussing a potential design. And after shelling out more than $440,000 in consulting fees, what may be presented next might not look like any of the dozens of two-dimensional pictures presented to the public as alternatives thus far.

An international design competition is set to be launched on June 17, and there's no requirement for a yet-to-be chosen architect to take into consideration any of the early alternatives.

"We're not prescribing what to do," said Chris Ballestra, director of downtown enterprise facilities for the city, and St. Petersburg's point man for the project. "We're not saying, 'Do this.'"

Ajamil's firm, Bermello Ajamil & Partners of Miami, has been paid $381,200 between Sept. 2, 2009, and Jan. 10, 2011, according to city records. It was the task force's chief consultant for all those meetings and was responsible for helping put together the task force's recommendations in a 43-page report.

Another consultant involved in the task force's recommendations was Moffatt and Nichol Inc., which was paid $14,721.85, according to city records. It provided expertise on the prerequisites for over-the-water construction and environmental permitting.

Professional Services Industries, an Orlando company, analyzed the soundness of The Pier, and in particular, the expected life of the inverted pyramid, if the city decided to keep it and only replace the approach. PSI was paid $8,300, according to city records.

Before the task force got into full swing, the city resorted to Collaborative Labs at St. Petersburg College, which conducted brain-storming sessions for a Pier Visioning Project. The college was paid $32,514.37 and the college's board of directors was paid $1,513.75.

Lighthouse Advisors Inc., a Tampa architectural firm, has been paid $7,000, city records say. Its president and director, Pete Karamitsanis, is expected to continue serving as an advisor as the city undergoes the next stage, the design competition, said Quintana.

For years, the amount of money for The Pier project was said to be $50 million, available next year from a special taxing district in the city's core. But in describing the competition on the city's web site, the city is telling architects $45 million is now available.

J. Raul Quintana, the city's staff architect, acknowledged that, after all the money spent, the city is no closer to "a visual solution" to The Pier than two years ago. "In a way we're asking the same questions we asked back then," he said.

Still, some narrowing-down has taken place.

The city has decided to demolish The Pier rather than just replace the approach, Ballestra said. The deteriorating condition of the pilings under the approach was what prompted a city-wide discussion on what to do with the city's icon in the first place.

As the result of numerous discussions, it has also been decided there should be no significant retail space in whatever replaces the inverted pyramid, a move that has disappointed the bevy of shop and eatery owners who rent space there now. There is only talk of a restaurant and banquet area.

It has also been decided that something iconic, like the inverted pyramid, should be put out in the water so visitors and residents alike can appreciate the scenic vistas on shore from old Tampa Bay. What that iconic structure is, and how far out into the water it should be, remain points up for discussion.

And, in all likelihood, there is going to be community space, such as a park or amphitheatre, as part of the project, Ballestra said.

"There is a lack of a visual solution on paper everyone can agree to, but there is generally more consensus on a lot of issues than there was a year, two years, ago," Quintana said.

"You almost have to go through that process to get people to understand that arriving at a solution may not be as simple as one would think," he said.

For the design competition, the city council on June 16 is expected to approve the make-up of a five-member jury: three professionals, plus a city council member and a member of the community picked by Mayor Bill Foster.

Once the jury selects three teams, each team will be given $50,000 to work up a proposed replacement for The Pier. The team selected will then negotiate a contract with the city.

As three teams dream up their proposed solution, they are welcome to look at the two-dimensional drawings put together by Bermello Ajamil & Partners, but they aren't required to, Quintana said.

"We're not confining them to anything," he said.

"We had to go through that process to get here," Quintana said.

spthompson@tampatrib.com

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