Thursday, May 2, 2013
The St. Petersburg City Council is scheduled to vote on $1.5 million in funding for the next phase of the pier in two weeks.
A decision to approve $1.5 million in funding for the next phase of the "Lens" pier project has been deferred for two weeks after a 5-3 vote by the St. Petersburg City Council. Last Friday, April 26, a 400-plus page schematic report was released from city staff and the Michael Maltzan Architecture team. In it were updates and more specifics to the design not previously released. Council members Jim Kennedy, Bill Dudley, Karl Nurse, Charlie Gerdes and Steven Kornell voted to defer the time. Jeff Danner, Leslie Curran and Wengay Newton voted no. Kennedy, who made the motion to defer, said getting the report a week ago was not enough time to ask staff questions about the financial costs of regular maintenance for the new pier. He said the…
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Do you think the pier will close this year?
If all goes according to the city's plan, the St. Petersburg Pier will close for good on May 31, just five months from today. Last year, council approved the closure date for the pier with demolition tentatively scheduled for August. Construction for the "Lens" is slated to begin in early 2014. While that is the plan, the plan is far from certain according to two petition groups hoping to hold a public referendum on the fate of the inverted pyramid. VoteOnthePier.com was successful in its petition drive collecting enough petitions, but council said the city was not legally required to hold a vote because the petition targeted a capital project, not an ordinance as required by the city's charter. In December, VoteOnthePier and the city …
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
StPetePolls has released its latest results. Less than a third of St. Pete wants the 'Lens,' slightly more than half want to get rid of red light cameras and Mayor Bill Foster leads mayoral race.
If a lawsuit and a second petition drive against Michael Maltzan's "Lens" were not enough proof that St. Pete does not like the design slated to replace the St. Petersburg Pier, a new poll also shows minimal public support. According to the latest results from StPetePolls, only 30 percent of the 1,916 survey respondents think the "Lens" pier should be built. More than 55 percent do not think it should be built while 14 percent are unsure. On Dec. 6, city council voted 7-1 to approve the next phase of funding for the design. While it approved the design, council did put in road blocks for future funding sources so each step will have to be passed by council in increments. Council did this in case 'Stop the Lens' is successful in its …
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Attorney Kathleen Ford, representing 15,000 petitioners, and the city of St. Petersburg are ordered to sit down with a mediator and work toward drafting a referendum.
The St. Petersburg Pier's future may be decided by voters. Circuit Court Judge Amy Williams ruled Thursday that the city of St. Petersburg and attorney Kathleen Ford, representing the VoteOnThePier petitioners, have to meet with a mediator within 60 days to come up with ballot language for a vote on the future of the St. Petersburg Pier. "Why don’t we just do it? Let’s get together and let's do it," Williams said. "It just seems like we can all agree here." She ordered the two sides to meet soon, so that a citywide vote may happen as early as the March election. Williams also ruled that Ford had to re-file the suit by Dec. 12, naming all the people who signed the petition. She said she could not dismiss the case on the grounds that the …
An updated design includes more shade structures, restaurant spaces and wider walkways. New renderings were also released.
A new set of renderings of the "Lens," the proposed structue for replacing the city pier, already is drawing controvery from opponents on the City Council. Architect Michael Maltzan showed the City Council on Tuesday some additional changes he made to the design, including more shade structures, spaces for restaurants and wider walkways. Maltzan said that like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Lens will provide a "literal" view of the city but will also enable the public to envision what St. Petersburg may be like in the future. “That’s what I believe is fundamental when we talk about it as an icon,” Maltzan said. “It’s a place to come and connect to the extraordinary landscape of the bay. Also, a place to see the city now and to see the …
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
On Tuesday, Michael Maltzan presented an updated design for the "Lens" pier.
New images and renderings of the "Lens" pier were released Tuesday by Michael Maltzan during a presentation to City Council. The team also released a video rendering of the "Lens," which can be found online by clicking here. On Wednesday morning we'll have a full story on the design changes and reaction from city council. Wednesday will also mark a day when the city meets the VoteOnThePier petitioners in court.
Monday, December 3, 2012
A presentation by the Michael Maltzan team, a pier petition court hearing and council vote on the "basis of design" for the "Lens".
The future of the St. Petersburg Pier and the "Lens", the $50 million design slated to replace the existing pier, could become much clearer this week. On Tuesday, the Michael Maltzan Architecture team will give a presentation on the updated plans of the "Lens", called the "basis of design." The presentation will be at 1:30 p.m. at City Hall. (See new "Lens" renderings posted above) Last week, the Maltzan team released hundreds of documents detailing the updated plans, costs and schedules. Included in them were plans for more shade structures, a restaurant and event space at the end of the "Lens" and restaurant space at the base of the pier, called the Hub. A day after the basis of design report is given, on Dec. 5, the city will be in …
Friday, October 5, 2012
With a petition focused on a city ordinance, rather than a capital expense, the group thinks its petition drive will legally force the city to hold a pier referendum.
Earlier this year, city council voted 6-2 to not put anything on the November ballot regarding in the future of the St. Petersburg Pier despite VoteOnThePier.comcollecting more than 16,000 verified petitions. The city's legal team and multiple council members argued that the petition drive was not legally valid because the city's charter only allows for petitions to force a vote if the petition deals with a city ordinance. Vote on the Pier's petition did not and council voted it down. On Thursday, the day council voted to approve a contract for the construction manager for the "Lens", a new petition drive launched in hopes to force the city's hand into a public vote on the future of the pier. "Stop the Lens" made the announcement on the…
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
The proposed agreement with Skanska USA Building is for pre-construction and construction services not to exceed $890,000.
The City Council will vote on a proposed contract Thursday that would approve the construction manager for the "Lens" pier and would also set the guaranteed maximum price of $890,000 for preconstruction services. According to city documents, Skanksa USA Building's services are split into two phases. Phase 1, Skanska shall provide cost estimating, constructability reviews and value engineering services for Michael Maltzan Architecture during development of design documents by Michael Maltzan. Phase 2, Skanska shall provide a guaranteed maximum price, which shall become part of a guaranteed maximum price amendment for the construction of the new pier within the city's budget of $50 million. Preconstruction services begin with Skanska …
Thursday, September 20, 2012
A survery of St. Petersburg residents showed they'd rather have nothing than the $50 million 'Lens' icon in Tampa Bay.
StPetePolls has released its results from its September poll and survey says St. Petersburg residents would rather have no pier at all than have the "Lens" 51.7 percent to 48.3 percent. According to readers of Creative Loafing, the feeling is mutual. In its annual "Best of the Bay" awards, Michael Maltzan Architecture's "Lens" pier design received the "worst idea of Tampa Bay" award. "The Lens" has greater support among younger poll respondents. According to results from StPetePolls, more than 50 percent of those between 18 and 49 years of age would rather build the "Lens". However, those 50 and older would rather build no pier at all. The alternative weekly also had Mayor Bill Foster as runner-up to "worst local politician." That award…
Bill H.
5:36 pm on Sunday, May 5, 2013
The only problem with your theory is "The just say no crowd" is actually a very large crowd that has in every poll said no, No, and NO! Guess it might be time to expand the number of people you talk to. more ›