St. Pete's $87 million Pier 'starting to come together'

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The city of St. Petersburg is giving us a birds-eye-view of the progress made on the new Pier.

Drone video shows trees planted and solar panels installed on the approach for what communications director Ben Kirby described as a "district for the city."

“All the trees planted in the coastal thicket, and we are going to be doing more plantings along the boardwalk soon,” Kirby said. “We are working on some of the interiors. You can see a lot of the glass go up.”

St. Petersburg’s City Council approved $400,000 Thursday for furnishings and landscaping, including benches and trash bins. The money comes out of the Pier budget, which has grown to $87 million.

“It’s really starting to come together. The pieces are really starting to form and it's really starting to look like what it’s going to look like,” Kirby said, adding that equipment for a $1 million playground will be trucked in within the next month.

Construction is set to be completed by the end of this year with the Pier opening in sections spring 2020.