Tag: Pier Park

Let Dogs on the Beach

Picking one area on the beach for our dogs to roam and play is ridiculous – not everyone lives near the City Pier.  Yes, it is better than before when they weren’t allowed at all and the penalty was a $200 fine, but designating them to just one area is still a problem and needs a better solution.  Recently they’ve been given freedom to roam the beach access across from Pier Park, but I want to see all of our 27+ miles of beach open to our four-legged friends.

One argument may be that letting dogs on the beach will create a number of problems – from dog poop on the beach that’s not thrown away, to frightened or allergic beach-goers that may find the dogs to be a nuisance.  These are all petty excuses for not inviting all kinds to a public place.  For the dog poop issue, I’d argue that it is not hardly as hazardous as walking over all the the litter left behind or nearly as disgusting as a forgotten dirty diaper.  Dog owners aren’t the only ones slacking in the “get some cooth” department.  If this were the reason for keeping dogs off the beach, it is certainly a lame one.  We certainly couldn’t fine those bringing their babies to the beach or anything else that would cause litter.  There are trash cans for these problems and we can only leave it to the people to decide how clean its kept.

If our dogs are being kept off the beach due to protecting the few who might be afraid, then they should think about two things.  Remember the beach is long and wide – move away just as you would if you didn’t like crowds of people at the beach.  Or wait until the dog passes you – sure enough the dog is there to roam and play, not to stay in one spot, sunbathing on a towel.  Knowing a few dogs myself, they don’t usually stay too long and tend not to go the beach during the prime hours most others do.  I’ve found they like early morning or after sundown due to the heat.

So if your opposed to the idea of having our four fury-pawed friends put their paw prints in the sand, I suggest you change your mind or come up with a real reason they should remain off.

I’m grateful for the little beach access given, but I won’t be satisfied until they’re allowed the entire beach, until I don’t have to drive my dogs miles down to enjoy the beach side, or until I can use the beach access close to my house and walk my dogs over.

Pier Park Gearing up for Winter

Talking with Felecia Cook, Pier Park’s marketing director, a few weeks ago, I had inquired as to what they were doing to keep ‘the park’ active during the off-season.  “We have tons of stuff planned, we will be very active all winter.”

Below is the schedule of events so far planned.

2008- 2009 COMMUNITY EVENT PLAN:

September

  • Sept. 20th- Tiles in the Park- Over 300 tiles will be installed in the C building area from local children who painted them with the Visual Arts Center and the Boys and Girls Club
  • Sept. 20th – Fire Flies and Kites in the Park- an art activity creating Fire Flies and kites for children with the Visual Arts Center
  • Sept. 24th through 28th- Thunder Beach- Pier Park to host bike show on property
  • All Month- Comcast Presents On-stage at Pier Park- Local singing, acting, instrumentals, dancing groups to perform at Pier Park

October

  • All Month- Oktoberfest at Pier Park – A fall celebration for families, hosted by Hofbrau Beer Garden
  • Oct. 3rd- Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbon Hanging- Ribbon Celebration in combination with Vera Bradley and Irene & Co. we will be hanging large pink bows on the palm trees in the promo area and Irene & Co. will add ribbons purchased by those donating to the fund.
    Breast Cancer Awareness to be celebrated all month
  • Oct. 3rd, 4th & 5th- Super Boat National Championship Boat Show- Power boats parked for display on our property
  • Oct. 4th- Bay Medical Sweeny Todd Blood Drive- Mobile blood center set up for donations in front of Blender Clothing/ Radio remote from Wave 100
  • Oct. 4th- Jelly Bean Mobile- Candymaker to host the Jelly Bean Mobile on property for kids
  • Oct. 10th, 11th, & 12th- Seafood, Wine and Jazz Festival at Frank Brown Park- A highlight of the fall season, showcasing arts, crafts, local restaurants, and regionally and nationally renowned musicians performing on two stages during three days, 28th Annual.
  • Oct. 11th – Emerald Coast Triathlon- Pier Park property will be involved.
  • Oct. 17th- Heart Walk- Charity walk through Pier Park for the American Heart Association
  • Oct. 18th- Girls Inc. Half Marathon- Charity marathon beginning and ending at Pier Park
  • Oct. 25th – Kids Festival- Stories, crafts and games for children
  • Oct. 31st- Malloween – Pier Park fall activities such as, costume competitions, crafts, and more.

November

  • Nov. 1st- Ironman Florida Triathlon- Pier Park Property will be involved
  • Nov. 3rd through 8th- Emerald Coast Cruzin – Classic Cars and the 35th Anniversary of American Graffiti.  America Graffiti cast members, parade of cars, car competitions, “50’s Dress Up night, and more. Parade to be held through Pier Park on Wednesday Nov. 5th
  • Nov. 7th- Taste of the Beach – A multi-regional initiative spear-headed by Coastal Vision 3000 to promote this region and brand it as “The Beach”.  Pier Park will represent Bay County by hosting one of the four “Taste of the Beach” events planned to promote this new initiative.
  • Nov. 14th, 15th & 16th- Madonnari – Italian street painting festival hosted by the Visual Arts Center
  • Nov. 28- Black Friday– Stores open at 5am for the busiest shopping day of the year
  • All Month- Food Drive- this will be done to benefit a local food bank

December (Dates to be determined)

  • Holiday Concert Series – All public and private schools, child centers, and churches will be invited to come to Pier Park to sing/ play their holiday cheer.
  • Tree Lighting Ceremony- Pier Park will become the “downtown” of PCB and all holiday activities.
  • Christmas at the Beach Parade- Pier Park Drive will be the focal point of the Holiday Season.
  • Santa at the Beach Photos- Family tradition restored to the beach by inviting Santa and his reindeer to join us at Pier Park.
  • Santa at the Beach Pet Photos- Family tradition restored to the beach by inviting Santa and his reindeer to join us at Pier Park and introduce him to your special family members.
  • Toy Drive- this will be done to benefit a local charity group for bay county.
  • New Year’s Eve Beach Bash- This will be the first of an annual tradition here at Pier Park.

Olive Garden Opens at Pier Park

New Tuscan Farmhouse-design restaurant is the first in Bay County

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (September 8, 2008)- Olive Garden welcomes guests to its newest restaurant opening at Pier Park, located in Panama City Beach at 15701 Panama City Beach Parkway on Monday, Sept. 8 at 4 p.m.  The beautiful new restaurant, built in the company’s Tuscan-farmhouse design, is the first in Bay County.
Approximately 165 jobs will be created with the opening of the 247-seat, 7,441 square-foot restaurant that is expected to contribute to the state’s restaurant industry growth.  According to the National Restaurant Association’s 2008 Industry Forecast, restaurant sales in Florida are expected to grow 5 percent this year.
“Panama City Beach supports a strong tourism industry making it the perfect location for the newest member of Olive Garden’s family of local restaurants,” said Valerie Insignares, executive vice president of operations for Olive Garden.

Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG), the country’s largest owner, developer and manager of high quality retail real estate, is pleased to boast another exciting restaurant for its Pier Park development. “The Olive Garden is a fantastic addition to the dominant restaurant lineup at Pier Park,” says Felicia Cook, director of mall marketing at Pier Park. “This restaurant will help further the center as the regions premier shopping and dining destination.”
Pier Park is a 900,000-square-foot open-air regional lifestyle center offering premiere retail, dining and entertainment choices located on 93 acres that covers land from Front Beach Road (at the City Pier) to the heavily traveled Highway 98 (Back Beach Road).

Tuscan Inspiration

The Olive Garden in Panama City Beach has a rustic stone exterior, typical of the buildings in the Italian countryside, and an interior accented by Italian imports designed to make the dining experience here a tribute to the restaurant’s Italian inspiration.  Ceilings supported by exposed wood beams, stone and wood accents throughout, and terra cotta tile highlight the interior.

The bar top is crafted from lava stone, then hand-painted by artisans in Italy with design created exclusively for Olive Garden; vibrant imported fabrics decorate windows and dining seats; hand-painted plates adorn rustic stone and stucco walls; and the lighting fixtures are all distinctly Italian.
“We are extremely excited to share the breathtaking setting of our new Tuscan Farmhouse-design Olive Garden with the Panama City Beach community,” said Mark Swartz, general manager.  “It was designed after our Riserva di Fizzano restaurant in Tuscany, Italy, which is rustic, charming, warm and beautiful – the perfect atmosphere to enjoy a genuine Italian dining experience.”

To recognize Swartz’s role as head of the Olive Garden family in Panama City Beach and to emphasize the importance the company places on its general managers, Olive Garden honored Swartz by setting his name in stone.  Travertine marble imported from Tuscany was chiseled with Swartz’s name and placed prominently by the front door.

Most new Olive Garden restaurants have been built in the Tuscan Farmhouse-design since February 2000.
Olive Garden is the leading restaurant in the Italian dining segment with 653 restaurants, more than 80,000 employees and $3.1 billion in annual sales.  Olive Garden is a division of Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE:DRI), the world’s largest full-service owned and operated restaurant company.  For more information, visit Olive Garden’s Web site at http://www.olivegarden.com.

Panama City Beach Olive Garden at a glance:
Opening Date:                      Monday, Sept. 8
Employees:                          165
Square Footage:                  7,441 square feet
Number of Seats:                 247
Hours of Operation:             From Monday, Sept. 8 – Sept. 14 the restaurant will serve dinner only:
–    Sunday through Thursday: 4 – 10 p.m.
–    Friday and Saturday: 4 – 11 p.m.

The restaurant will be open for lunch beginning Monday, Sept. 15.  Lunch will be served starting at 11 a.m. every day.

Walk too long? Take the Tram at Pier Park!

A new feature at Pier Park has proudly carried many names such as The Love Shuttle, Party Bus or Red Schlepper. Many requested it and thousands made good use of it throughout the summer. With no particular route, the Pier Park Tram (a formal name to be given early next month) can be seen wandering the various corridors of traffic of the south and north portions of Pier Park.

Continue reading “Walk too long? Take the Tram at Pier Park!” →

Blues Traveler to Rock the PCB Seafood, Wine & Music Festival

The Panama City Beach Seafood, Wine & Music Festival in cooperation with Neste Marketing Nashville, proudly announces BLUES TRAVELER will perform at the event Saturday October 11, 2008.

David Letterman named them his “favorite band”, BLUES TRAVELER effectively launched the jam-rock revolution of the 1990’s. Their massive musical imprint includes over eight albums — six of them gold or platinum — and they’ve sold more than 10 million discs overall. Continue reading “Blues Traveler to Rock the PCB Seafood, Wine & Music Festival” →

Pictures of Pier Park, Post 2 of 2

Yesterday was hot, very hot. The humidity kept me moving quickly in anticipation of getting back to cooler temperatures. Pier Park was bustling for a relatively slow tourism week. One of the goals that I had with pcbdaily early on is for it to document our area so we can look back on it in times to come and see where we’ve been. Like I said the other day, I actually had no final shots of all of Pier Park. So, enjoy!

Continue reading “Pictures of Pier Park, Post 2 of 2” →

Construction Update – City Pier at Pier Park

Moving along as scheduled, the city pier at Pier Park is still set to open spring 2009. With the main platform going on now and pilings being driven as they move out into the water, the pier is definitely beginning to take shape.

Quoted from my previous post:

Construction is “top-down” construction, meaning there will be no barge with a crane in the water driving piles. The crane will “crawl” across the top of the piles that it puts in in order to put the next series of piles. I thought this was pretty cool, as it allows them to continue work even if they have rough seas. Delays will be less likely.

Continue reading “Construction Update – City Pier at Pier Park” →

Pictures of Pier Park, Post 1 of 2

I was thumbing through pcbdaily the other day looking for good pictures of Pier Park and realized that I’ve never gone through and taken pictures of completely areas. I have broken up posts with pictures of some, but not all. So, this begins a two part picture story of Pier Park – completed!

Enjoy the north part of north part of Pier Park!

Continue reading “Pictures of Pier Park, Post 1 of 2” →

Pier Park Introduces More Specialty Shops to Panama City Beach in August!

Lifestyle Center Continues to Strengthen its Status and Drawing Power in Florida’s Panhandle

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (August 6, 2008) – Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG), the country’s largest owner, developer and manager of high-quality retail real estate, officially announces the addition of more shopping options at Pier Park, the 900,000-square-foot retail and entertainment lifestyle center located on 93 acres that covers land from Front Beach Road (at the City Pier) to the heavily traveled Highway 98 (Back Beach Road).

Continue reading “Pier Park Introduces More Specialty Shops to Panama City Beach in August!” →