Members of the St. Petersburg City Council learned Thursday about the damage Hurricane Milton caused to the St. Pete Pier. There was both good news and bad news.

Chris Ballestra, the City’s Managing Director of Development, reported that the Glazer Family Playground was completely submerged by Hurricane Milton’s heavy rain, following Hurricane Helene’s storm surge. The ground cover, consisting of artificial turf and foam substrate for safety, became floating. Initially, it was believed that the entire playground would need to be replaced.

However, as the water levels and drainage receded, the playground dried out. Inspections by the original installers confirmed that no replacement was necessary, which was very good news. The playground is now open and fully operational.

When the Pier was constructed in 2020, nearly 500 trees were planted across its 26 landscaped acres. Approximately 30 trees were destroyed or uprooted in the recent hurricanes. Ballestra noted that about one-third of those might survive re-planting.

There was some damage to the floating “courtesy docks” behind Doc Ford’s Rum Bar and Grill, but overall, the physical structures throughout the Pier fared well. Ballestra described the $92M Pier as “extraordinarily resistant.”

On a less fortunate note, Bending Arc, the net-like “floating sculpture” by artist Janet Echelman, sustained major damage in recent months, beginning with Hurricane Debby in August. City Development Administrator James Corbett told the Council that the 424-foot artwork now requires significant repairs. The sculpture may need to be taken down to determine if and how it can be re-hung sustainably.

In June, several support strands tying down the Bending Arc, tethered 72 feet above the ground, came loose. Representatives from The Net House, the Cocoa Beach company conducting regular inspections of the Echelman work, reattached it with stronger tethers. Although the tethers held up during the hurricanes, the sculpture itself was subsequently damaged. The Net House will soon take it down to assess the damage. The artist, who resides in Massachusetts, has been notified.

Echelman named Bending Arc—her largest net sculpture to date—after a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” The piece and its installation were funded with $1.5M in private donations. She has not immediately responded to a request for comment.

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(Image credit: Martha Asencio-Rhine/Tampa Bay Times via AP, File)