It’s all fun and games until a Category 5 hits.
I was born in St. Petersburg in 1957. The pier looked like the BW photo you posted in those days. It was called “The Million Dollar Pier” back when a million dollars was real money. I liked going there as a kid. The St. Pete Police Department used to throw a big Christmas party there and it was always a blast. You could walk down to the beach next to the pier in those days. The Coast Guard and Navy brought cutters, destroyers, and submarines (including my Dad’s old sub the “USS Trutta”) to berth nearby. A little boy found a lot of things to like about that time. I visited St. Pete a few years ago. Where I used to live (Coquina Key) is now mostly the Third World. Very sad.