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The New St. Pete Pier: Updates

 

The New St. Pete Pier Enhancements

 

The St. Pete Pier has been a St. Pete landmark for years. This year it was torn down to make room for the New St. Pete Pier. This month the city held a workshop and released enhancements to the pier, the approach and the amenities. Welcome to the Pier District.

 

The construction proposed will cost $14 million, but the amenities and experience the new construction will be worth it. The new pier will be a place of community, boasting various pavilions and areas for congregating. Most of the pier will be closed off to vehicles, allowing pedestrians free reign of the new construction and keeping in St. Pete’s pedestrian friendliness. There will also be two bike sharing stations to allow easy, quick access to the education center, beach, tropical garden, children’s splash pad, kayak dock, dining and more.

 

Spaces for eating, strolling, music, and art will be widespread throughout the pier district. For visitors, tourists and local alike the markets and events that will be held here will provide the kind of entertainment venue the pier and its pedestrian visitors deserve.

 

new st pete pier

Arial pier rendering from NewStPetePier.com.

 

 

 

But what about boaters?

 

One thing that is clearly missing from the renderings and workshop  last week is the amenities for boaters. To take your boat downtown and park in a transient dock, you will need to compete for the 27 slips available at the St. Pete Marina which are mainly taken up by overnight boaters. There are about 10 spots near Fresco’s, but you cannot count on any of them being available.  With all the enhancements and events that will be built for a community who loves to be on the water, it seems odd that additional transient docking wouldn’t be plainly available on the new pier renderings. Once it’s finished, boaters from Apollo Beach, Tampa and other areas across the bay will have to risk it to find a place to dock. It’s not for lack of room, either. The north, east and south sides past the approach all seem to have room for additional slips. This is a missed opportunity for the city to not only give the boating community an additional amenity and incentive to visit, but to capitalize on rental space and revenue.

 

For more information on the pier, visit The New St. Pete Pier’s website. What do you think about the new pier?