St. Petersburg city leaders broke ground Wednesday on a new operations building at the Southwest Water Reclamation Facility, calling it a critical investment in protecting the city’s wastewater system from future hurricanes and storm surge.

While the project centers on a new 15,000-square-foot, three-story building, city officials say the larger goal is resilience.

“If this infrastructure doesn’t work, our city doesn’t work,” Mayor Ken Welch said during the ceremony.

The need for the project became especially clear during Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, when St. Petersburg was forced to shut down two of its three wastewater treatment plants for the first time in city history.

Residents received emergency alerts warning them the facilities were offline.

“You might’ve gotten that wonderful phone call from me or our comps team saying don’t flush your toilets. Don’t do laundry because we’re going to have to shut down the sewer plants,” Welch said.

According to Public Works Administrator Claude Tankersley, the city has since accelerated efforts to strengthen vulnerable infrastructure through its St. Pete Agile Resilience, or SPAR, initiative.

“The spirit behind projects like these is to embed more resilience into our utilities so that they can stand up to the changing weather that we’ve all been noticing,” Tankersley said. “And the impact of storms, the impact from storm surge.”

The new facility is being built 22 feet above sea level — exceeding the city’s goal of protecting critical infrastructure from a 15-foot storm surge.

The ground floor will be designed so water can pass through during a storm without threatening workers or essential equipment.

“If we were to get a storm surge, the storm could just pass through it without providing any danger to our crew,” Tankersley said.

The building will include offices, laboratories, locker rooms, workspaces, multipurpose rooms and bunk rooms that will allow employees to remain on site during emergencies.

“We know that we cannot eliminate every risk, but we can reduce vulnerabilities and strengthen the systems that our residents count on,” City Council Chair Lisset Hanewicz said.

The overall project cost is estimated at $22.2 million, including roughly $18 million for construction. The State of Florida is contributing $8.9 million through its Resilient Florida Program.

Welch said those investments are necessary as the city adapts to increasingly powerful storms.

“Our realities have changed in the City of St. Petersburg,” Welch said. “And if we are going to be a resilient community, this is the type of infrastructure investments we have to make.”

Many residents agreed.

“If they want people to live here, they need to invest in making that better for them to live here,” resident Bo Opel said.

Visitor Nancy Hanner pointed to the city’s continued growth.

“It’s getting developed every day more,” Hanner said. “So, I think if it’s going to better the city and better the people that live here.”

Resident Jose Cortina said delaying projects like this could prove more costly in the future.

“I’m sure that’s an issue that especially a lot of people that are moving in now they don’t realize what had been happening,” Cortina said. “And I think now is the time to act and to do something about it before it’s too late.”

Officials say the new facility will help ensure wastewater operations can continue during severe weather events while supporting public health, environmental protection and reliable city services for years to come.

The project is also considered regional in scope because the Southwest Water Reclamation Facility serves both St. Petersburg and Gulfport.