St. Petersburg is buzzing with anticipation as the international design competition for the redesign and replacement of The Pier readies for their selection announcement. The three finalists are Michael Maltzan Architecture (collaborating with local powerhouse firm Wannemacher Jensen Architects) with “The Lens”, BIG with “The Wave”, and West 8 with “The Eye”. The $50 million project will be the third redesign of the pier since its debut in 1914.

"The Lens", Michael Maltzan Architects

A brief history of the pier: In 1889, three years before St. Petersburg was incorporated as a city, the Orange Belt Railway constructed the pier as a railway-accessible sightseeing and recreational resort for locals and tourists. The pier was upgraded in 1906 with the “Electric Pier” with highly dramatic night lighting and a name change to the “Electric Pier”, but was replaced 8 years later by the “Municipal Pier”. The Hurricane of 1921 severely damaged the Municipal Pier and on Thanksgiving Day in 1926, the new “Million Dollar Pier” was dedicated. The city appropriated a million dollar bond to build the new pier, which included an observation deck, open air ballroom, and a large interior atrium. Years later, the building’s entrance portico was enclosed and occupied by WSUN-TV’s studios.

Fast forward to 1967 when the pier, decrepit from lack of upkeep, was demolished. The site was vacant until 1973, when local architect William B. Harvard, Sr. (Harvard – Jolly) designed the new structure which still stands today. On August 18, 2011 - facing the impossible task of keeping the pier viable with escalating costs - the city council recommended demolishing the current pier and then started the international redesign competition.

All of the finalists have a common goal of designing the project to mesh well with St. Petersburg’s existing downtown. City Council member Leslie Curran noted, “all of them have worked with communities and we thought that was very, very important that they didn't just look at designing a building to sit on the waterfront. They looked at designing a space and integrating the entire community into that."

The designs were submitted and announced on November 30th and will be available for public viewing at the St. Petersburg Museum of History. The finalists will present their designs to the jury on December 16th, with the jury announcing its selection on January 6th – history in the making! Stay tuned…

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