To prepare for the building's demolition, the transfer station will be moved to 70th Avenue N.
By ANNE LINDBERG
Published May 12, 2004
PINELLAS PARK - Council members will get their first official look at plans to regenerate ParkSide Mall, a month and a half before the building faces the wrecking ball.
In the meantime, bus riders will be one of the first groups to be affected by upcoming changes.
The bus transfer station on the western end of the mall property, 7200 U.S. 19 N, will close Saturday.
Beginning Sunday, the transfer site for the 200 buses that stop there will be moved temporarily to 70th Avenue N below the JCPenney Outlet Store.
Within about six months, the transfer station will be moved farther west along 70th below the movie theaters, which will remain open while the mall is being rebuilt.
The mall owner wants to try to normalize the parking as much as possible for the theaters, and part of that is making sure the bus transportation is set, said Mike Siebel, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority director of planning.
It became necessary to move the transit station when the mall's owner, Boulder Venture South LLC, decided to renovate the site at one time. The plan is to raze the two-story building and rebuild in an open-mall concept with parking in the middle and stores around the outside, like the revamped Clearwater Mall.
The only remaining mall businesses will be the 16-screen multiplex and the Applebee's restaurant on the north side of the property.
The mall owner thought it was too dangerous to allow buses to remain on site while construction was ongoing. And, in any case, the new plan called for the transfer station to be moved to 70th.
Under the temporary plan, all six bus routes - 11, 19, 52, 74, 75 and 444 - will approach from U.S. 19 N. Some of those buses will continue west along 70th, but about 50 of them will have to turn around through the neighborhood to the south and return to U.S. 19 (see map).
Some route and stop changes are necessary for buses that once drove up to the property from the west. Siebel said route information is available at PSTA outlets and will be on the Web site, www.psta.net by Friday.
At least 912 people will be affected each day.
A recent survey found 511 riders get on the bus at ParkSide before 4:45 p.m. each day. An additional 401 riders get off there. It is unclear how many riders go through there later in the day and the evening, Siebel said. It also is unclear how many are served at nearby stops.
Council members are scheduled to consider granting Boulder Venture South a waiver to allow it to remove an estimated 500,000 to 600,000 cubic yards of dirt from the property. The mall owner wants to flatten the property as it was before the mall was built.
Council members also will consider allowing the company to change the development plan that was filed in the 1970s when the structure was first built.
The proposed change would allow Boulder Venture South to add 6.3 acres to the site and to build as many as 124 multifamily dwellings on mall land. The owner also would change the name from ParkSide to Shoppes at Park Place.
The council meeting is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the council chambers at City Hall, 5141 78th Ave. N. The meeting is open to the public.
