St. Petersburg is about to bet roughly $32 million on a sweeping resiliency project for flood-plagued Shore Acres, promising pumps, bigger pipes and new backflow preventers to keep streets drier. City Hall is pitching it as a long-awaited fix for one of the city’s lowest-lying neighborhoods, but many residents say the plan still ducks the bigger monster in the room: storm surge and years of neglected infrastructure. The stakes are not just environmental, either, as a civic leader who pushed for the project is now running for mayor on an infrastructure-first message.
What the city says it will build
Officials describe the Shore Acres Resiliency Infrastructure Project as a neighborhood-scale overhaul of the stormwater system. The plan calls for new stormwater box culverts, upgraded gravity mains, additional backflow preventers and an emergency power facility tied to a permanent pump station. That station is slated to sit under Connecticut Avenue near Bayshore, the neighborhood’s so-called “bowl,” and city documents put the total price tag at more than $30.8 million. According to the City of St. Petersburg, the latest funding will cover the generator and startup equipment needed to get the permanent station fully operational.
Neighbors say pumps are partial relief
Residents and the Shore Acres Civic Association are thankful the city is finally pouring serious money into the neighborhood, but they are not pretending this is a cure-all. Pumps and valves can push tidal water off the streets faster, neighbors say, yet they will not stop storm surge from barreling into the community during a major storm. The city plans to install new pump stations and valves and to upgrade existing pipes, and reporting notes that Shore Acres currently has 56 backflow preventers for 146 outfalls, leaving about 90 outfalls still exposed. “This neighborhood has suffered so much over the past several years,” said Kevin Batdorf, immediate past president of the Shore Acres Civic Association, according to FOX 13 News.
Funding and bigger picture
The Shore Acres effort is one piece of a far larger push to overhaul drainage and resiliency infrastructure across St. Petersburg, built on a mix of state grants and local funding over the past two years. City officials and local reporting point out that earlier FDEP grants steered about $7.9 million specifically to Shore Acres work, and the city’s Stormwater Master Plan flags hundreds of millions of dollars in needed drainage upgrades citywide. As reported by St. Pete Catalyst, those grants were intended to jump-start early pieces of the Shore Acres program, including the Connecticut Avenue drainage improvements now moving forward.
Timeline and prior approvals
Key approvals and design steps are already in motion. City leaders have accepted matching funds and advanced design work, including a December 2025 council action to accept a $1 million state grant to cover the pump station’s generator and startup needs. Local coverage describes the permanent facility as an underground station at Connecticut Avenue NE and Bayshore Boulevard that will house multiple pumps and emergency backup power. Earlier reporting put the overall program cost near $33 million and sketched out a range of potential start dates while permits and plans were still being refined. According to Bay News 9, the city approved the state grant and related project details in late 2025.
What’s next
Before shovels hit the ground, City Hall is asking Shore Acres residents to weigh in. Officials have set a public meeting for March 4 from 6–8 p.m. at the Shore Acres Recreation Center to walk neighbors through the designs and collect feedback ahead of final permitting and procurement. FOX 13 News reports that construction is expected to begin in spring 2027 and last about 20 months once work starts. Residents say they plan to keep a close eye on the budget, long-term maintenance and whether this big-ticket project can truly protect homes from both the routine tidal soaking and the kind of storm surge that keeps Shore Acres on edge every hurricane season.
