828 Pier Alliance to Explore Partially Reopening Pier

The 828 Pier Alliance voted unanimously Monday afternoon to request information from the city about partially reopening the St. Petersburg Pier. 

Costs and safety concerns are the main types of information the alliance wants from the city. 

Alliance facilitator Lee Green asked the group Monday if it wished to request information from the city about reopening the pier for limited, non-retail use until a new pier is chosen. 

Green said should voters choose to stick with the "Lens" pier design then it might be a moot point but if voters kill the "Lens" contract then there would be an extended period of time before a new design is chosen.

"I heard from the city that the pier can stay open through 2016 (for safety reasons)," said alliance member and Stop the Lens organizer Fred Whaley. "It’s not like it has to be closed. We closed it, according to the mayor, because there (was) a subsidy."    

Monday, the alliance said it would ask the city for a broad set of information about cost and cost levels, such as costs for reopening bathrooms, allowing mobile food vendors or the opening of bait shop. 

"I don’t know if it's directly part of what the mayor was thinking (when he created the alliance), but this really is part of the process," said local landscape architect and alliance member Phil Graham. "If the pier goes down that sets up a whole set of criteria. If it stays open, then (renovation) is always somewhat on the table."  

Mayor Bill Foster created the 828 Alliance with the goal of the group having a recommendation for the process to select a pier by Aug. 28, the day after the Aug. 27 primary. 

On that ballot, St. Pete will be voting on the city's contract to build the "Lens" pier design. Should that design fail, Foster said this group would help ensure momentum is not lost in selecting a new pier. 

The St. Petersburg Pier closed May 31. The pier approach reopened June 17  for fishing and pedestrian use. No vehicles are allowed.

The next 828 Alliance meeting will be at 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 25 at City Hall.