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Pier to get tram; city says project remains on track

Published  December 17, 2018 5:51pm EST
St. Pete Pier
FOX 13 Tampa Bay

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (FOX 13) - If everything goes as planned, St. Pete’s new pier will be finished and open by this time next year.

“Everything is on time and on budget,” pledged Ben Kirby, Mayor Rick Kriseman’s communications director. 

The city of St. Pete approved an $800,000 tram line that will help those who have a hard time getting around. Kirby says the tram service will pick up passengers on Beach Drive and shuttle them through the approach in the Pier District and to the structure. 

“You’re not going to be able to drive out to the to the pier head like with the old pier,” Kirby said. “So we’ve got these trams in place now.”

The money for the tram service comes from the city’s parking enforcement revenue and does not come out of the pier’s budget. 

Kirby said there’s still an effort to find private funding for Janet Echelman’s rope sculpture.  The city has moved the location to closer to the history museum and the project has been slightly downsized.