Although the candidates running for office in St. Petersburg insist there are a plethora of neighborhood issues that citizens care about that haven't gone much attention in the nascent campaign, the Pier remains a huge presence going into the August 27 primary election.
This morning in front of City Hall, mayoral candidate Rick Kriseman reaffirmed his opposition to the Lens concept but also presented his own plan on what should happen if the Michael Maltzan plan goes down to defeat later this summer.
"The first step is easy," Kriseman told reporters. "We should reopen the pier to pedestrian traffic while the inverted pyramid structure is closed. Residents and visitors should be able to utilize the surrounding area for sightseeing, fitness, or fishing until construction on the next pier begins."
The Pier officially closed on Friday, May 31. Demolition is scheduled to begin this fall.
But all bets are off if the Lens design goes down to defeat on August 27, as activists opposed to the design successfully gathered enough signatures to place a referendum on the ballot that will ask St. Pete citizens if they want to maintain current plans.
Kriseman says that if the Lens loses, Mayor Foster and the City Council should do nothing immediately about the Pier, but wait until after the November election, when he hopes that he is the next mayor.
Kriseman says that if elected but before he officially takes over in January of 2014 he would appoint a group of community leaders with "proven track records" to lead an expedited process that builds on the work done by the original task force but adds another round of citizens input, via town hall meetings and social media. He wants recommendations from that task force to then be submitted by April of 2014, with the new designs sent to council by September of 2014.
And if it's up to Kriseman, there won't be any Los Angeles-based architects (like Maltzan) designing the new Pier, as he says he will "explore the possibility" of limiting the competition to local or Florida-based firms "who have a better understanding of St. Petersburg, its history and its people."
The controversy over what to do with the Pier has been the most covered story in St. Petersburg over the past year and has become a major issue in Bill Foster's bid for re-election. In addition to Kriseman, former City Council woman Kathleen Ford has also entered the race, and according to some polls, is leading the three- way contest, with a bulk of her support no doubt residing on her out front opposition to the Lens. The August 27 primary will knock out one of the candidates from the race.
Last month Kriseman, a former City Council member who then served in the state Legislature for six years, initially told CL that he thought it was a mistake by Mayor Bill Foster to close down the Pier at the end of May.