St. Petersburg Pier, pier in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

St. Pete Pier is a 26-acre pier district extending into Tampa Bay from downtown St. Petersburg, opened on July 6, 2020. Its main building has a broad flat roof and a wide overhanging upper deck with thatched umbrellas, above a facade of dark glass divided by thin vertical mullions and a lower concrete section. Palm trees stand before the glass front, and a paved walkway runs along the base. The district holds five restaurants, a playground and an environmental education center.

The first centralized pier was the Railroad Pier, built in 1889 by Peter Demens's Orange Belt Railway on 1st Avenue South, 2,000 to 3,000 feet into 12-foot-deep water. Rival piers followed: Brantley Pier (1896), Fountain of Youth Pier (1901) and the Electric Pier (1905), lit by bulbs and served by an electric trolley. The Million Dollar Pier opened on November 25, 1926, with a Mediterranean Revival Casino at its head; the Casino was demolished in 1967. The current 26-acre Pier District opened on July 6, 2020.

The name of the 1926 head building, the Casino, referred to a gathering hall rather than gambling; it held an open-air ballroom, a theater and an observation deck. In July 1927 radio station WSUN began broadcasting from its second floor in the Shrine Club. The current 26-acre Pier District, opened July 6, 2020, holds five restaurants, a playground and an environmental education center.

The 26-acre Pier District opened on July 6, 2020, and is reached on foot from downtown St. Petersburg at the foot of the approach into Tampa Bay. The broad upper deck, shaded by thatched umbrellas along its left side, is the place to stand for the water view. Palm trees line the paved walkway before the dark-glass facade.

The 1926 Million Dollar Pier cost $998,729.18, funded partly by $300,000 in public donations organized by Evening Independent publisher Lew B. Brown, with the rest bonded by the city after a 1925 vote. Its Casino hosted radio station WSUN from the second floor starting in July 1927.