CITY TO BREAK GROUND ON FIRST LEED CERTIFIED

St. Petersburg, Fla. (January 21, 2009) - The media is invited to join Mayor Rick Baker, city officials and guests as the city breaks ground on a new 21, 780 square foot single story administration building for the Water Resources Department on Thursday, January 22 at 11 a.m. The groundbreaking will be across from the existing city building at 1635 Third Avenue North. Refreshments will be served.

The new building has been designed to meet LEED Silver standards and includes sustainable design features such as high efficiency windows, lighting, HVAC systems, solar water heaters, underground rain water cisterns for non-potable water use, high reflectivity metal roofing, bike racks, hybrid car parking and drought tolerant native landscaping. The new facility will be storm hardened to withstand 163 mph hour wind loads and provide for continuous operations during and after storm events.

In addition, four artists from around the United States will compete on February 6 for the commission to create public art specifically designed for this site. All known for working with environmental issues, they have been asked to design art with a water message that also reinforces the sustainable design of the project.