Lisa Robbins, Ph.D., center director for the U.S. Geological Survey, is overseeing a significant expansion of its facility at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus.

AS ST. PETERSBURG APPROACHES ITS 100TH ANNIVERSARY in 2003, it finds it has more than just a birthday to celebrate. When it comes to economic develop ment, the last 10 years as a Florida city have been like icing on its cake of life. Its centennial is expected to generate a great deal of celebration ­ more so because it will join with St. Petersburg, Russia, which will be celebrating its tricentennial at the same time. Another significant milestone for St. Petersburg on the Gulf Coast of Florida is the 10-year anniversary of the historic renovation of the Renaissance Vinoy Resort, a project that set the momentum for the revitalization of the down-town business district.

And what a decade it has been.

Capital investments include, for instance, the development of hundreds of luxury residential units, the BayWalk entertainment and retail complex, a new hotel, the renovation of Tropicana Field for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the continuing expansion of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. "Things are clicking now," says Mayor Rick Baker. "We have a nice mix of residential, cultural and entertainment venues and business."

This "nice mix" has not gone unnoticed. The City of St. Petersburg recently received the Successful Community Award from One Thousand Friends of Florida, a statewide non-profit organization that monitors growth management in Florida. "St. Petersburg has done an outstanding job of bringing a wide range of interests together to create a livable and exciting downtown experience," says C. Allen Watts, the organization's president.

In the last few years the 21-story Florencia, 14-story Cloisters and 10-story Vinoy Place have added hundreds of luxury condominiums and townhouses downtown. ZOM Development has recently completed the Madison at St. Petersburg with 277 luxury apartments and plans to add another 250 units next year. And developer Paul Morris is breaking ground on the Villas at St. Petersburg, a 220-condominium development that will sit on top of three stories of new retail space.

The capstone of this wave of redevelopment is the success of BayWalk, the $40-million entertainment and retail complex that has had visits by 3-million people in its first year of oper-ation. The Florida Redevelopment Association recently hon-ored the new facility with its Roy F. Kenzie Award. Criteria for this award include the project's impact on the community, effective use of funding, creative approach to the development and exemplary aspects of design.

"BayWalk has been moving along nicely at over 90-percent occupied," says Susie Levin Rice, president at RMC Property Group, who specializes in retail real estate. "They have back filled spaces that became vacant within the first year. That's a good sign."

To add a unique blend of excitement, in February 2003 St. Petersburg's down-town streets will convert to a racetrack for the Championship Auto Racing Team. This mega-event will bring race-car drivers from around the world, 150,000 spectators and international television coverage to St. Petersburg.

"We have the most beautiful down-town waterfront setting of any urban area in the country," says Don Shea, executive vice president of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership. "It will look great from helicopters during the race."

USGS on the Rise
A southerly view from the helicopters will show cranes on the campus at USF St. Petersburg working on the expansion of the C.W. Bill Young Marine Science Complex. This three-story, 68,000- square-foot building for the U.S. Geological Survey virtually doubles their Gulf Coast facility. It is another victory for the city that 25 years ago won the initial expansion of the federal agency.

"In 1986 we had decided that we needed another coastal facility and put out an RFP (request for proposal) nationwide for a place with a university," says Lisa Robbins, Ph.D., center director of the USGS operation in St. Petersburg. "St. Petersburg and USF (University of South Florida) officials jumped to the call and wooed the USGS here."

It was an expansion based on "soft money," however, says Terry Kelley, operations manager for the USGS in St. Petersburg since its startup. "We began with six scientists and went from month to month for funding. This operation started on a wing and a prayer."

From that uncertain beginning the USGS facility has grown to an annual budget of $10 million and a staff of 110, with 36 high-level scientific researchers. The facility started out in the renovated 30,000-square-foot Studebaker building on the USF St. Petersburg campus. The building, constructed in the early 1900s, is so named because it operated at one time as a Studebaker dealership. Kelley says it originally functioned as a Conestoga wagon "dealership," the vehicles the Studebaker brothers sold before they diverted their attention to automobiles.

In 1996, the USGS added another 35,000-square-foot building to accom-modate its expanding operations and a staff that had grown to 50 people. Its most recent expansion is attributed to integration of its various scientific disciplines ­ biology, geology, geophysics and water chemistry ­ into one facility.

"Originally this facility dealt with geo-logical issues only," Robbins says. "In the past three years we've added biolo-gists and hydrologists. Now the geo-physicists (who do mapping) are com-ing. Florida is the second state (Alaska was first) that is spinning up for inte-grating scientists."

The USGS is the "premier science agency of the Department of Interior," says Robbins. "Our federal mandate is the protection of resources. By includ-ing a broader of range of scientists we'll be able to address much more. Environmental issues are complex. We need a whole suite of tools, not just one discipline."

The work done by these scientists is "cutting-edge research," Robbins says. "We ask fundamental questions of processes happening in the environment."

A Notable Pilot Project
One study under way is the Tampa Bay pilot project that includes a team of more than 60 scientists. Their work to date has been published in the February 2002 issue of Science magazine (www.sciencemag.org). The article refers to the study as the "largest multi-disciplinary science project ever orchestrated by the U.S. Geological Survey."
(Date for study is listed at http://gulfsci.usgs.gov)

The study of Tampa Bay involves drawing up maps of the sea floor, charting habitats, identifying sources and qual-ity of groundwater seeping into the bay and reconstructing the region's ancient environment. "We'll be looking at the historical growth of the Tampa Bay area and its impact on the bay," says Robbins. "This is a successful integrated science project and a model of how it can be done."

Another project conducted by St. Petersburg-based USGS scientists is the study on the global transport of dust, which has been published in the May-June 2002 issue of American Scientist. "This is linked to the demise of coral reefs," Robbins says. "It is the second most viewed page on our Web site."

These studies by the USGS scientists are complemented by liaisons with the Florida Marine Research Institute, the Marine Sciences Center at USF St. Petersburg and the marine science pro-gram at Eckerd College. "We have a real powerhouse here," says Robbins. "This is quite a think tank."

iIn recognition of the cutting-edge research under way in St. Petersburg, U.S. Rep. C.W. "Bill" Young, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, played a significant role in allocating $6.25 million for this most recent expansion of the USGS. A sculptured bust of his likeness overlooks the library in the USGS facility. "He is a huge proponent of the science initiative here," Robbins says.

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