Community Corner
828 Alliance Considers Another Pier Jury Should 'Lens' Fail
The 828 Pier Alliance has until Aug. 28 to submit a pier selection process to St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster.
Nearly two years ago a panel of five judges convened to select the winner of an international design competition for a design to replace the St. Petersburg Pier.
From the three design finalists — the Wave, the Lens and the Eye — the pier jury selected the Michael Maltzan "Lens" pier design.
Since the design's selection, the "Lens" has become a lightning rod for controversy and has prompted a citywide petition drive to "Stop the "Lens," which voters will get a chance to consider on Aug. 27.
Now, the mayor's 828 Pier Alliance is discussing going through a similar process to choose a new pier should voters decide to cancel the city's contract with Maltzan to build the "Lens."
At its Aug. 1 meeting, 828 Alliance members talked about having another pier design competition and another pier jury.
City of Tampa architect and St. Pete resident James Jackson said should the 828 alliance recommend to the mayor another design competition, or Request For Quotation, that more designs and more jury members should be included.
In a draft document shared with alliance members, it said a RFQ process should:
- Provide community with financial facts of over-water construction and operation costs.
- Take a city-wide survey to see what the public wants and use that information for a RFQ. Define criteria for a RFQ.
- Establish a selection committee "made up of city staff and a handful of knowledgeable citizens" to review pier design proposals.
- Pier selection committee should provide between 5-10 firms as finalists for further review by the public and city.
- Possibly allow 'none of the above' or refurbishment of the inverted pyramid as options
- Get official public feedback at various points in the pier selection process
- Have 10-20 people on the selection committee.
"Who are we really going to get to bid on this," said alliance member Bob Churuti. "I've heard form very well qualified architects who said, 'fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.'
"Who are we going to get to do this is one of my concerns," Churuti added.
He said if voters strike down the "Lens" contract he fears few architect firms would submit pier designs.
Alliance member and local landscape architect Phil Graham said he does not think the alliance needs to reinvent the wheel when it comes to choosing a new pier selection process.
"Take a few items and modify it slightly," Graham said of the original selection process. "With some tweaking, I believe we can make some suggestions."
At the end of the meeting council members Karl Nurse and Leslie Curran spoke during public comments to give advice on how the selection process should be implemented.
Nurse said getting more public input and wishes is critical to any process going forward. Helping to define the scope of the design, Nurse said, will help all those involved.
"So that when you get designs, you get designs back that largely reflect the consensus of the public," Nurse said. "I think if you do that, you’re prospects of the public being shocked are dramatically lower."
Curran echoed comments of Churuti, who is concerned with another jury/design competition. She asked how the end results would be any different.
"The end result is somebody doesn’t like (the design) and someone will just put some money down, start a referendum process and let’s do it again," Curran said.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
