The selection committee looking to redesign the St. Petersburg waterfront has eliminated one of the final eight potential Pier design teams.

The committee voted 5-to-1 to eliminate the ahha! Design Group from further consideration. The ahha! Design Group is a St. Petersburg architectural company that presented the design known as "the Crescent."

Committee members said they felt the ahha! team's design was not as fully formed as some of the other offerings and did not neet their requirements.

"The depth and breadth of coverage, or lack thereof in this case of the eliminated AE team, it was the professionalism or lack thereof in the content of what they submitted," selection committee member Mike Connors said.

Lead designer Paul Ries said it's a missed opportunity.

"The building was the largest, we had the most space," he said. "We had an experience out at the headlands, we had fishing, we had retail, and there was no subsidy. It was a complete proposal. Obviously the city thought it was lacking in some areas."

The remaining groups are:

  • St. Pete Design Group, the designer of the original inverted pyramid
  • Alfonso Architects of Tampa, whose team that includes Dale Chihuly
  • FR-EE, an international firm
  • Chicago's Ross Barney Architects
  • ASD, Roger Partners and Ken Smith Landscape
  • VOA, which is based in Orlando
  • W Architecture and Landscape Architecture of New York

The remaining groups will give 45-minute presentations to the committee Feb. 11 and 12 at the Coliseum. The public will be allowed to comment on the projects. Presentation times have not been set as of yet.

Most of the finalists said they would renovate the existing pier. The ahha! Design Group, along with Alfonso Architects, had previously said they would build a new pier.