JURY SELECTS "THE LENS" AS THE NUMBER ONE PIER DESIGN

ST. PETERSBURG, FL (January 20, 2012) - Today, St. Petersburg's Pier Jury unanimously selected Michael Maltzan's design, "The Lens" as the top ranked design of the three finalists. "The Wave", Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) ranked second. This caps off an International Design Competition that attracted some of the best architectural design teams in the world.

The finalists presented their design concepts to the jury in a public meeting last December.

City Council will discuss the ranking at a workshop on January 26 and again at the City Council meeting on February 2 where a final decision may be made.

The jury was comprised of: Stanley Saitowitz, a South African architect and an architecture professor fromUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley; James Moore, PhD, a Tampa-based urban designer and former architecture and design professor at USF; Susan Fainstein, PhD, aHarvardUniversityurban design professor; City Council Member Leslie Curran and Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch.

Since its earliest days, a pier has been the centerpiece ofSt. Petersburg,Florida's downtown waterfront. The current landmark Pier - the seventh in a succession of waterfront piers - opened in 1973 and is nearing the end of its life span and is slated for future replacement.