St. Petersburg, Florida -- The St. Pete Pier has been an iconic landmark with a controversial past. Now, residents are letting the City know what they want to see in its future.
The public participated in a 12-day online survey and the results have been revealed.
Destination St. Pete Pier was the overwhelming winner with 6,306 votes from verified St. Petersburg residents. It keeps the iconic inverted pyramid design, adding an air-conditioned restaurant, a top-level sky deck at the pier head, a larger spa beach, children's zone and marine discovery center. It boasts it's the only plan to allow front door car access for dropoffs.
PHOTOS: Destination St. Pete Pier
Keaonia Wright is with the majority of residents who likes the Destination St. Pete Pier design best.
"You're not really taking away how it used to look, the old look," says Wright.
Marquise Allen agrees, "[It] looks nice, it looks more advanced. It'll be a lot better as a whole."
Coming in second was the Pier Park, with 3,999 verified St. Petersburg resident votes. It offers a more open plan and changes the inverted pyramid into an open-air space and restaurant. It ties into the city's transportation system and a potential high-speed ferry, but has some of the highest operating costs.
"I'd like to see the one that made the beach farther, and there was like a little jungle," says St. Pete resident Jim Jines.
Jines is describing the Blue Pier plan. That's in third place with 2,700 verified St. Petersburg resident votes. It takes the pyramid out completely and puts a series of lagoons and walkable space in instead. The minimalist approach would cost the city the least to maintain, but could face environmental permitting problems because of its plan to change the shoreline.
Only about five percent of St. Pete residents who could have voted, did.
"We feel like we gave people every opportunity. We were happy to do that it would have been nice to see more people participate," says The New St. Pete Pier spokeswoman Kristin Brett.
"I want to thank everyone who participated in this unprecedented survey, a worthwhile endeavor that will inform the Selection Committee as they make their recommendations later this month," Mayor Rick Kriseman said in a statement. "The key to this process has always been transparency, and that is why it was important to take the pulse of the community and hear their voice. I look forward to next steps as we plan for a new St. Petersburg Pier."
What the public thinks carries some, but not a lot of weight. It's just one out of seven criteria the pier committee will use to select its top three recommendations on March 20. The other criteria: design approach, relevant project examples, team background and experience, minority business enterprise, and technical review.
"Anything would make me happy as long as they open it up," says Jines.
The council will vote on the pier selection committees choices in April with the hope that the pier will be up and running by the spring of 2018.
The other options that were up for vote are detailed below. You can also get a full breakdown of each plan, at the St. Pete Pier website.
ALMA - a complete redesign featuring a massive tower at the pier head.
Prospect Pier keeps the inverted pyramid revamping it with a rooftop terrace and 360 degree views.
rePier revamps the inverted pyramid with an open air observatory and more options for pedestrians.
Discover Bay Life offers a transforming art piece at the pyramid looking back to the city.
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