St. Petersburg council leaves Lens decision to voters

[independentpiney]

ST. PETERSBURG — The City Council decided late Thursday night not to kill the $50 million Lens project and instead let voters decide the fate of the contract with designer Michael Maltzan Architecture in an Aug. 27 referendum.

Council member Charlie Gerdes made a motion to kill the controversial Lens deal that has roiled the city, but his effort died when no other member backed his proposal. The council instead voted 8-0 to let residents decide the issue.

"Let the chips fall where they may," council member Leslie Curran said. "We need to have an opportunity to let democracy work."

Prior to the vote, mayoral candidate Kathleen Ford reminded the council that she was before them a year ago and told them to put the issue to voters. Mayor Bill Foster also told the council that he had wanted the issue on last November's ballot. Foster, who is seeking re-election, noted that he and Ford rarely agree on anything.

I can't wait to vote to stop Foster's folly and get Kathleen Ford in the mayors office.

[DonCoquixote]

1. Normally I would agree

But ford wants to fix the old pier, which would cost more, and she was stupid enough to make the argument about her stupid yacht (we can;t boat anymore if this goes through".

[independentpiney]

2. I doubt very much renovation would cost more

than any sort of full demolition and new construction. If the current condition were that bad it would have been made very clear in the summary of the Parsons-Brinckerhoff reports. Clear enough even Bill Foster would be able to understand it. I can't fault her the argument about her sailboats either, it's a legitimate point and I wish I wasn't poor so that it applied to me too. Hell, I'd be happy with a little sailing dinghy to play around in and a place to keep it.

[DonCoquixote]

3. supposedly

the estimate to repair the existing pier is 74 million dollars, as opposed to the supposed 50 million for the lens. Now, I know that 50 Million is a crock, but that is the official results.

Personally, I would not mind if the pier were simply filled in and replaced with an extension of the waterfront park, make it something that could support wildlife, but also something you COULD fish in, or boat in. The Lens design is a crock. I know that many places became signatures of their city, but many of these architectural wonders are known for being useless at what they were built for. The Sydney Opera house is the one image used to justify architectural wow, yet, as most opera singers will tell you, the place is useless for opera, as the very "sails" that look so pretty ruin acoustics.

[SugarShack]

5. that is not true. those numbers are inflated. so you can't renovate something for same price as new?

[SugarShack]

4. Ford wants YOU to vote on all the options. She takes no position. Just V O T E

[lilithsrevenge12]

6. Why can't we rally like this over something important?

It takes a stupid ass pier for everyone to agree on wanting change.