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St. Petersburg City Council approves pier plan by ASD, Rogers Partners, and Ken Smith

St. Petersburg City Council approves pier plan by ASD, Rogers Partners, and Ken Smith

The redevelopment of St. Petersburg, Florida’s iconic pier, with its very 1970s-esque inverted pyramid, is finally ready to move forward. The local city council has approved $5.2 million for the the structure’s replacement which was designed by ASD, Rogers Partners, and Ken Smith. The money will go toward finalized designs, demolition of the existing pier, and initial contract services. This has been a long time coming.

In 2011, the city hosted a competition to redesign the pier which resulted in fantastical renderings from the likes of Michael Maltzan Architecture, the Bjarke Ingels Group, and West 8. Michael Maltzan took the gold, but the plan stalled when voters rejected footing a $50 million bill.

Fast-forward to December of last year when eight more proposals for the site were released as part of a second pier redevelopment competition. This time, teams had to work within a $33 million construction budget. (A St. Petersburg city official told AN around that time that the funding for the project had already been allocated.)

Now jump to this spring, when it was announced that the team of ASD, Rogers Partners, and Ken Smith had won the competition with its proposal for Pier Park—a new public destination with a grove, sloped lawn, public seating, boardwalks, and areas for fishing and kayaking. As part of the scheme, the existing inverted pyramid isreplaced with a geometric pavilion that houses classrooms, a bar and grills, and restrooms.

After all of this, the redevelopment is now ready to get underway. “The schematic design phase is scheduled to take five months and will include feedback from residents,” said the council in a statement. “Following the design refinement, the community will be engaged to learn about the concept as the city moves forward on the final design, permitting and ultimately, construction.”

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