Advertisement

As more vessels dock in St. Petersburg, city hopes for a busy waterfront in its future

 
The Lynx, left, and the Cross-Bay Ferry are docked on the St. Petersburg waterfront.
The Lynx, left, and the Cross-Bay Ferry are docked on the St. Petersburg waterfront.
Published March 26, 2017

ST. PETERSBURG — The downtown waterfront, a somnolent stretch in decades past, has emerged as one of the coolest places to be in Tampa Bay. Beach Drive hums with sidewalk diners. Pedestrians jostle for space. Bars, restaurants and shops are now pushing west.

To the south is a burgeoning marine science community. To the north, the majestic Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club has broken ground on a new marina-front restaurant. And construction could start in a matter of weeks on replacing the waterfront's signature landmark, the Pier.

The next evolution for St. Petersburg's envied waterfront just might be on the water itself: The city hopes to attract vessels for entertainment and tourism to downtown. It already has three:

The tall ship Lynx, an 1800s-era replica schooner and floating museum, settled into its new downtown berth in the Vinoy Basin on Thursday night as city officials celebrated with guests.

The Sir Winston, the 128-foot luxury yacht that took the nation's mayors on a cruise along the bay last fall, would like to share the Lynx's good fortune. It covets a permanent and more visible home near the Pier.

A third vessel, the Cross-Bay Ferry — on a six-month trial run between St. Petersburg and Tampa — has already claimed a spot by the Pier and now boasts more than 23,000 passengers since November.

The city hopes to draw more vessels like those, especially to the 26-acre Pier District, a series of venues that will lead to the Pier itself, which will jut 1,265 feet out into Tampa Bay.

City development administrator Alan DeLisle believes there is an appetite for boating enterprises at the Pier. That demand, he predicts, will increase when "you've got hundreds of thousands of people visiting on a regular basis."

"I do think that's going to open up a market for more interest in educational-related vessels and charter vessels," he said.

• • •

City-owned marina facilities stretch from the Vinoy to the Albert Whitted Airport. They include a mooring field in the North Yacht Basin — best known as the Vinoy Basin — and docks in the Central and South Yacht basins. The city's port sits south of the airport in Bayboro Harbor. Its terminal building will be the future home of the Marine Discovery Center. Earlier this month, it hosted a food truck rally that drew about 2,000 people, marina and port director Walter Miller said.

The St. Petersburg Port is also where the Sir Winston is docked. Capt. Steven Siegel would prefer to be at the Pier. Sharing the Lynx dock would make "a huge difference to the business, our visibility," he said.

The Lynx's new downtown dock can accommodate the Sir Winston, said Mario Farias, who worked with other boosters to get the ship to St. Petersburg. The Lynx's new dock was a collaboration between the city, which contributed $65,000, and several local businesses. The Harborage Marina, where the Lynx had been moored, provided the floating concrete dock, Marinetek refurbished and installed it and EMP Industries supplied the connection for power and water.

Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines

Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines

Subscribe to our free DayStarter newsletter

We’ll deliver the latest news and information you need to know every morning.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

"It's a pretty cool story," Farias said of the public-private partnership.

Farias said the Lynx — a replica of a privateer that took part in the War of 1812 — offers free educational programs that are funded by its charters, parties, tours and sailings. The tall ship from Nantucket has agreed to make St. Petersburg its winter home until April 2021.

"To me, it's just a wonderful addition to our waterfront," said City Council member Ed Montanari, who supported the effort. "It combines American history, education. It brings all the good things that you want to share with people."

DeLisle said the tall ship will enhance the Pier District when it comes online in late 2018.

"You've got the ferry and then you've got the Lynx," he said. "We are building an experience down there and then, at a minimum, you will have these two vessels."

As yet, though, there's no certainty that the ferry will continue. The pilot project, which began in November, ends on April 30. The $1.4 million cost is being covered by the cities of St. Petersburg and Tampa and Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman is preparing to share a report about the service with other participating governments.

"What we are thrilled about is how strong those results are," DeLisle said. "The number of passengers. The operating costs covered by fares. Just the overall use of the ferry has exceeded our expectations."

He agreed that reduced fares in February might have boosted ridership.

"That's why we did a pilot project," he said. "We took an approach of a six-month pilot and that we're going to learn every day. And adjusting the price-point is part of that learning.

"We have learned so much every day, so we feel like that we have really started to hit the sweet spot. March, from what we can tell, is going to be our strongest month."

• • •

The focus now is on getting money to make the service permanent, with the city "exploring funding opportunities for how to pay for vessels going forward," DeLisle said.

His staff is also trying to find a way to move the Sir Winston to the Pier area "on a temporary basis to get to see how it might work for them."

But even as DeLisle wants to attract new vessels to the downtown waterfront, he is protective of the city's desired Pier District ambience and purpose.

"We want to make sure the beautiful views are preserved and the park experience is preserved, and families and kids have fun," he said. "And we've got to make sure that people interact with the water as they want to. . . . I think it's a balance between passive and active experiences."

Most of the redevelopment of downtown St. Petersburg has focused on the land. But now the city is looking to do the same to the water. The city is working on a master plan to map out the future of its marina. About 100 residents, many renting slips at the Municipal Marina, attended a public input session in December, said Miller, the marina and port manager.

Discussions have included the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, the Greater St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and other organizations. Businesses that rent commercial slips, such as the Dolphin Queen Sightseeing Cruise and Simple Sailing Charters, have also been invited to participate. One of the master plan's goals is a multimillion-dollar renovation of the aging and outdated Central Yacht Basin facilities.

"To whatever degree that we can enliven the waterfront that works for both residents and visitors," said City Council member Karl Nurse, "I think that's a good thing."

Contact Waveney Ann Moore at wmoore@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2283. Follow @wmooretimes.