After The Lens design was turned down by the citizens of St. Petersburg, mayor Rick Kriseman asked for the request for qualification for a design consultant in January 2014.
Later a group was established called the Pier Working Group to incorporate elements and activities from the community in order to set the basis for the new pier.

The process of finding a new pier began with sixteen initial teams that submitted a statement of qualification on September 8, 2014 with ideas ranging from renovating to replacing the current pier.
From those initial teams, eight were invited by the city of St. Petersburg to the second stage of the selection process.
Designs for the new pier concept were due on December 15, 2014 by the selected eight teams.
After review from the selection committee of the designs introduced by the teams, the design teams were shortlisted on January 23, 2015 to include seven of the original eight teams, dropping "The Crescent" by ahha!
Design Group.
Over the course of the next month from January to February, public outreach was collected based on the shortlisting and the teams presented their pier concepts to the public.
A public online survey ensued from February to March, which the results from citizens of St. Petersburg favored the "Destination St. Pete Pier" by the St. Pete Design Group followed by "Pier Park" by ASD Architects, Rogers Partners Architects+Urban Designers, & Ken Smith Architect and "Blue Pier" by W Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

A meeting with the pier committee was held on March 20, 2015 to decide the top three rankings for the pier.
During this meeting, the committee evaluated the designs of all seven piers viewing each pro's and con's and hearing comments from both the committee and public.
In conclusion of the meeting, four of the seven teams were eliminated which excluded the "Blue Pier", "Discover Bay Life Pier", "rePier", and "Prospect Pier".
The top three piers were ranked by "ALMA" first, "Destination St. Pete Pier" second, and "Pier Park" third, however the movement to rank the piers in the order given was failed during a vote between the committee.
Weeks after the initial meeting, mayor Rick Kriseman commented that the residents just want to see their elected officials build a pier.

During a final hearing on April 23, 2015, the selection committee had two meetings.
The first involved a questions and answers for the top three teams and the second included a hearing from the public with final consideration for the top three designs.
During the second meeting, the selection committee ranked the piers by several major criteria.
During the late night meeting, the committee ranked "Pier Park" as their number one pick followed by the favored "Destination St. Pete Pier" ranked second and "ALMA" by Alfonso Architects ranked third.
The St. Petersburg City Council approved of the "Pier Park" plans on May 7, 2015 in a 7 to 1 vote, and approved the contract on June 9, 2015.

On July 9, 2015, the city council approved on a $5.2 million deal to demolish the current pier and to finalize the Pier Park.
The demolition of the pier began on August 18, 2015.
On November 17, 2015, the St. Petersburg Pier structure was fully demolished.
After the demolition of the structure, the approach of the pier was next which was estimated to be fully demolished four months after starting.
The entire demolition was expected to be done by February 2016, however it was completed in late 2016 on the account of safety concerns from the decay of the construction materials that were reinforced over the lifetime of the pier's approach and base structure.
A redesign on the pier was presented on March 17, 2016 with mixed reactions from officials, though it was viewed positively from the cities council.
Due to the redesign, budget cuts were soon imposed on the Pier's concepts.

Pier Park's groundbreaking began on June 28, 2017.
On September 25, 2017, Pinellas County granted an expanded budget of $76 million towards the Pier's district.
In December 2017, the pier's concrete pilings were around "three quarters of the
After The Lens design was turned down by the citizens of St. Petersburg, mayor Rick Kriseman asked for the request for qualification for a design consultant in January 2014. Later a group was established called the Pier Working Group to incorporate elements and activities from the community in order to set the basis for the new pier.
The process of finding a new pier began with sixteen initial teams that submitted a statement of qualification on September 8, 2014 with ideas ranging from renovating to replacing the current pier. From those initial teams, eight were invited by the city of St. Petersburg to the second stage of the selection process. Designs for the new pier concept were due on December 15, 2014 by the selected eight teams. After review from the selection committee of the designs introduced by the teams, the design teams were shortlisted on January 23, 2015 to include seven of the original eight teams, dropping "The Crescent" by ahha! Design Group. Over the course of the next month from January to February, public outreach was collected based on the shortlisting and the teams presented their pier concepts to the public. A public online survey ensued from February to March, which the results from citizens of St. Petersburg favored the "Destination St. Pete Pier" by the St. Pete Design Group followed by "Pier Park" by ASD Architects, Rogers Partners Architects+Urban Designers, & Ken Smith Architect and "Blue Pier" by W Architecture and Landscape Architecture.
A meeting with the pier committee was held on March 20, 2015 to decide the top three rankings for the pier. During this meeting, the committee evaluated the designs of all seven piers viewing each pro's and con's and hearing comments from both the committee and public. In conclusion of the meeting, four of the seven teams were eliminated which excluded the "Blue Pier", "Discover Bay Life Pier", "rePier", and "Prospect Pier". The top three piers were ranked by "ALMA" first, "Destination St. Pete Pier" second, and "Pier Park" third, however the movement to rank the piers in the order given was failed during a vote between the committee. Weeks after the initial meeting, mayor Rick Kriseman commented that the residents just want to see their elected officials build a pier.
During a final hearing on April 23, 2015, the selection committee had two meetings. The first involved a questions and answers for the top three teams and the second included a hearing from the public with final consideration for the top three designs. During the second meeting, the selection committee ranked the piers by several major criteria. During the late night meeting, the committee ranked "Pier Park" as their number one pick followed by the favored "Destination St. Pete Pier" ranked second and "ALMA" by Alfonso Architects ranked third. The St. Petersburg City Council approved of the "Pier Park" plans on May 7, 2015 in a 7 to 1 vote, and approved the contract on June 9, 2015.
On July 9, 2015, the city council approved on a $5.2 million deal to demolish the current pier and to finalize the Pier Park. The demolition of the pier began on August 18, 2015. On November 17, 2015, the St. Petersburg Pier structure was fully demolished. After the demolition of the structure, the approach of the pier was next which was estimated to be fully demolished four months after starting. The entire demolition was expected to be done by February 2016, however it was completed in late 2016 on the account of safety concerns from the decay of the construction materials that were reinforced over the lifetime of the pier's approach and base structure. A redesign on the pier was presented on March 17, 2016 with mixed reactions from officials, though it was viewed positively from the cities council. Due to the redesign, budget cuts were soon imposed on the Pier's concepts.
Pier Park's groundbreaking began on June 28, 2017. On September 25, 2017, Pinellas County granted an expanded budget of $76 million towards the Pier's district. In December 2017, the pier's concrete pilings were around "three quarters of the
St. Petersburg Pier