William C. Ballard
1255 Brightwaters Blvd.
St. Petersburg, FL 33704
727-827-5021
wballard12@verizon.net
April 17, 2013
Mayor Bill Foster
Karl Nurse, City Council Chairman
Council Members of The City of St. Petersburg
Good Morning:
A year ago I spoke at a Council meeting and said, in effect, that The Pier was no longer relevant. It sure looked that way from my ivory tower. I rarely was out there. I was wrong, The Pier is relevant and alive and a source of pleasure to thousands of people. Yes, most of the pier approach and pier head require a major rebuild or replacement. Yes, the inverted pyramid requires major refurbishment – or does it?
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Our good citizen Scott Wagman suggested last year that The Pier be kept open with most or all of the interior closed, but with the exterior clean and cosmetically presentable. A variant of this would be to only close all the upper floors and de-activate the elevators. Keep the ground floor open for those shops, restaurants and snack businesses that want to continue to be part of our economy and for the people who enjoy them. Mr. Gonzmart has said he is done with The Pier. That provided an opportunity, not an obstacle, to keeping The Pier open on a survival budget basis until its future is determined through one of the two processes which are in motion now – a referendum on The Lens project this summer or the Downtown Waterfront Master Plan in 2015.
Council members, you have the power to postpone demolition of the pier. Adopt a policy that responds to the realities of today. Circumstances have changed. The Lens project is in jeopardy. While that uncertainty exists, the total closure of The Pier is unnecessary and would deprive us of an enjoyable amenity. Its demolition in the face of possible termination of The Lens project would appear to be a vindictive act.
Find out what's happening in St. Petewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Mayor Foster, please don’t tell us you can’t find the money for a smaller pier subsidy. Every mayor finds the money when they really want to find the money.
Keep all your options open. Postpone the closure and demolition of our Pier.
Very truly yours,
William C. Ballard, President
Concerned Citizens of St. Petersburg, Inc.
Posted with Permission
E-Mail Doc at: dr.webb@verizon.net
