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| Home Media BAYWALK PROJECT APPROVED FOR ST. PETERSBURG/CLEARWATER AREA ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (July 1998) -- Adding momentum to a revitalization of downtown that includes a major league baseball team and the addition of a sixth world-class museum, the city of St. Petersburg approved a $40-million project to build a 20-screen cinema complex to be known as "BayWalk." The complex will be surrounded by dozens of retail shops on 1 1/2 blocks of vacant downtown land. Construction of BayWalk should begin by January or February 1999. Plans call for the project to be linked to a city-owned parking garage, and be ready for business by May 2000 Supporters of the BayWalk project say that at least 2 million people a year would visit downtown for BayWalk. "This project represents a real boon for tourism to this area," said Carole Ketterhagen, executive director of the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. "It’s another step in the direction of providing diversity to visitors. Not only do we have some of the greatest beaches in the country, but we also have exciting museums and great baseball. Now with BayWalk, we’ll have entertainment and shopping for the whole family that will encourage activity in the downtown area." Downtown St. Petersburg has already begun to flourish. A recent "Titanic" exhibition at the Florida International Museum drew an attendance of 830,019 people, the largest attendance for a museum exhibit in the United States since 1994. The St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area is also drawing downtown visitors with the addition of a major league baseball team, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who play at the newly constructed Tropicana Field. Besides the Florida International Museum, five other museums (the Museum of Fine Arts, Great Explorations, the St. Petersburg Museum of History, the Dali Museum and the newly Florida Holocaust Museum) provide downtown with cultural diversity. The St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area is the leading destination on Florida’s Gulf Coast, drawing more than 4.25 million overnight visitors annually. The area is best known for 35 miles of spectacular beaches, two of which are rated among the top 10 in the United States, and record-breaking sunshine, an average of 361 days per year. A variety of attractions, world-class museums, sporting activities and nature-related experiences are also readily available. For more information on the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area, write to Dept. DCI, St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, 14450-46th Street North, Suite 108, Clearwater, Florida 33762, or visit the Internet site at http://www.stpete-clearwater.com. For hotel reservations or a Visitor Discovery Guide call 1-800/345-6710. |