3 Finalists Vie to Redesign Pier

ST. PETERSBURG – The Dali Museum architect is out, but three distinctive architects with world-class reputations have been named finalists to redesign the 1970s-era St. Petersburg Pier.

If the St. Petersburg City Council approves the choices, made by a five-member jury, each will receive $50,000 and submit a Pier design proposal by Nov. 29.

A $50 million budget has been "earmarked" for rebuilding the St. Pete Pier, according to the city.

The three finalists are:

• Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG): Lead designer Bjarke Ingels of New York describes his approach as "pragmatic utopian architecture."

• Michael Maltzan Architecture Inc.: Lead designer Michael Maltzan of Los Angeles is known for creating Inner City Arts, an arts education campus in a blighted urban area in LA.

• West 8 with Allied Works Architecture: Lead designer Adriaan Geuze of New York has an interntional reputation for his approach to planning and design of public space.

The three finalists were narrowed from a , including Dali Museum architect Yann Weymouth, announced on July 29. The judges looked at a total of 23 teams that had applied and were accepted in the competition.

The five jurors are:

1.) Stanley Saitowitz, a South African architect and an architecture professor from University of California, Berkeley;

2.) James Moore, PhD, a Tampa-based urban designer and former architecture and design professor at USF;

3.) Susan Fainstein, PhD, a Harvard University urban design professor;

4.) City Council Member Leslie Curran;

5.) Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch.

Here is the timeline for the next steps:

• City Council will need to approve the final three candidates, when it meets on Sept. 8;
• Design teams will present their concepts for a new Pier by Nov. 29;
• The designers will make formal presentations Dec. 15 and 16;
• The jury will submit its final recommendation to the City Council in early January;
• City Council will vote on the project on Feb. 2.