Wonder what's being erected on the Pinellas County side of the Howard Frankland Bridge?

ST. PETERSBURG, fla. - Wonder what's being erected on the Pinellas County side of the Howard Frankland Bridge? According to the City of St. Petersburg, it's a "gateway welcome structure" to welcome visitors traveling southbound on I-275.

The 75-foot-tall structure is designed to compliment the pair of 50-foot-tall, Mediterranean Revival style downtown-entry monuments, located at the end of the ramps from I-175 and I-375 in downtown St. Petersburg.

The monuments were installed as part of the city's Environmental Signage Program, initiated in
1988 in an effort to improve the physical environment and create and identity for St. Pete. According to the City of St. Petersburg, construction of the monument is on "a fast pace, in time for the arrival of the Republican National Convention delegates and national media in August."

135,000 vehicles cross the Howard Frankland Bridge toward St. Petersburg each day.

The monument on the St. Pete side of the Howard Frankland was a part of the original signage program, but was never completed due to costs including a decline of the City's property tax revenues. Instead, the monument is being paid for via a private donation by William Edwards, chairman of Mortgage Investors Corp. and Big 3 Entertainment.

According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Edwards has invested millions on Treasure Island, the Mahaffey Theater, BayWalk and Channelside.

The cost of the donation is estimated at $600,000. Documents filed with the City say "Mr. William Edwards has graciously offered to provide a private donation to pay for the creation of the welcome Structure that the City had envisioned. Mr. Edwards will fund all costs associated with the Structure which will be designed to meet all applicable City and FDOT specifications and other regulatory requirements."

The City of St. Petersburg has agreed to assume ongoing operating costs and maintenance responsibilities, that include monthly power costs associated with lighting the welcome structure, graffiti removal, cosmetic/structural damage repairs, pressure washing and repainting.

The City's maintenance cost is not expected to begin until fiscal year 2018.

The monument has been designed to meet all hurricane wind load requirements and will utilize LED lighting to reduce power consumption.