City Council Postpones Imagine Clearwater Groundbreaking

CLEARWATER, FL — Citing concerns over rising construction costs, the Clearwater City Council has postponed its formal groundbreaking ceremony for the 24-acre Imagine Clearwater project, scheduled for Monday morning.

Among those expected to attend the ceremony for the long-awaited start of the redevelopment project were U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-St. Petersburg; Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor; state Sen. Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater; and state Rep. Nick DiCeglie, R-Indian Rocks Beach.

"I know it's late in the game," said Mayor Frank Hibbard, who made the motion to postpone the event at Thursday's city council meeting. "A lot of people have been invited, and it will be an inconvenience for staff."

At the same time, Hibbard said it would be fiscally irresponsible to move forward when the city hasn't received final cost estimates from the city's construction contractor, Skanska. The project cost is currently estimated at $64.5 million. However, the cost of both lumber and steel has skyrocketed in the past year and could impact that estimate, he said.

"We thought the cost would go down during COVID, but clearly that's not been the case," Hibbard said. "I would like to get the numbers from Skanska first. I think it is the right order of things."

He said this doesn't mean that he's not in favor of moving forward with Imagine Clearwater, which has been in the planning for more than a decade.

"I don’t want anyone to misconstrue this, I fully support completing Imagine Clearwater," Hibbard said. "Nobody wants to break ground more than I do."

Council member Hoyt Hamilton was concerned that the postponement will send the wrong message to residents.

"I think the formal groundbreaking will show we are committed," Hamilton said.

Assistant City Manager Michael Delk said there will be no doubt that the city is moving forward with the project.

The city has already signed a guaranteed $12.9 million contract with Skanska to begin site and utility work on the project, and that work is proceeding.

"It will not delay your park. It will be very evident in coming weeks when people see fencing going up around the construction site," Delk said. "The issue for us is the contingency, what we can expect from this unpredictable commodities market. It's still very volatile."

He said he hopes to have final estimates on the project's total cost from Skanska by August.

The council voted unanimously to postpone the groundbreaking ceremony until those final figures are available.

"I'm not thrilled with any thought of a delay but as long we're moving forward, I'll go along with this and hopefully we'll see these prices come down," Councilman Mark Bunker said.

Imagine Clearwater is a plan to redevelop and connect Clearwater's downtown area and waterfront. It includes construction of a 4,000-seat covered amphitheater in Coachman Park, an expansive park, a gateway plaza, a walk along the bluff overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway that connects the park to downtown, a bay walk promenade overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway, a lake area with picnic shelters and an ocean-themed play area with an interactive pop-jet water feature.

The reduced parking area and addition of ride-share drop-off areas are intended to take traffic off the roads and promote walkability and the use of public transportation.

Work was expected to begin this summer.

Ironically, on the same day the council voted to postpone the groundbreaking ceremony, Stantec, the architectural, design and civil engineering firm hired by the city for Imagine Clearwater project, released final design and construction documents for Imagine Clearwater.

While Skanska will lead the construction of the project, Stantec is providing architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, civil engineering, structural engineering, coastal resiliency analysis and construction administration services for the project.

"The Imagine Clearwater project illustrates how important parks like this are to our communities,” said Hamid Sahebkar, Stantec principal and project manager for Imagine Clearwater. “Our team is proud to have designed a space that the city of Clearwater and its residents can take pride in and enjoy for many generations to come. We look forward to our continued work with the city in seeing this vision for Coachman Park come to fruition.”

In addition to giving Clearwater residents a greater sense of identity, Sahebkar said these amenities will help bring visitors to downtown businesses, the adjacent Clearwater Public Library and the marina, and would stimulate tourism and spending.

Additionally, he said an analysis conducted by Stantec found that the reduction of paved areas and increased green space would raise property values in the downtown area.

To mitigate flood risk and the impacts of climate change and sea level rise, Stantec designed the park’s buildings to exceed the current and proposed Federal Emergency Management Agency requirements.

"This creates a more resilient site solution to protect the public’s investment for future generations," Sahebkar said. "Stantec has also incorporated sustainable features into the design, such as solar panels, a native landscape palette, bioswales for stormwater conveyance and EV (electric vehicle) charging stations. All buildings throughout the park will employ continuous insulation, including insulated glass, to reduce energy use for cooling. The team selected interior finishes and materials based on the amount of recycled content."

“Imagine Clearwater is a generational project, one that we believe will serve Clearwater families and guests for decades to come," Hibbard said. "Finally, we will be taking full advantage of our unique downtown waterfront."

Stantec has already garnered a reputation for visionary design in Tampa Bay.

It served as the landscape architect of record on the award-winning Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park in Tampa and played a key role in bringing the vision for Water Street Tampa to life.

The firm also provided early planning, zoning and infrastructure studies and design that is turning more than 50 acres of parking and warehouses in downtown Tampa into a sustainable, walkable urban district.

See related stories:

• Skanska Awarded Contract For $57M Imagine Clearwater Project
• Video: City Invites Public To View Imagine Clearwater Designs
• Clearwater Residents Invited to 'Imagine' Downtown Waterfront's Future
• Clearwater Officials Want To Tap Into Residents' Imaginations