ST. PETERSBURG — There's no telling whether the projected grand opening of St. Petersburg's Pier, scheduled for spring 2018 will happen on time, given a major setback in the process Friday.

After a 12-hour meeting, Mayor Rick Kriseman's Pier Selection Committee adjourned after failing to pick a preliminary design for the $46 million project. The sticking point came with the need to rank the top three concepts and when it became apparent that hometown favorite, Destination St. Pete Pier, was not going to be the top choice.

In the end, the committee voted to ask the designers of the three finalists — Alma, Destination St. Pete Pier and Pier Park in that order — additional questions and regroup at a later date.

Friday, a revolving line of speakers spoke on behalf of Destination St. Pete Pier, which will reuse the inverted pyramid. Alma, created by Alfonso Architects of Tampa, and the recommended front runner by chairman Michael Connors, was not without its supporters.

Even former mayoral candidate Kathleen Ford showed up to speak on behalf of Destination St. Pete Pier. She accused Connors of never liking the inverted pyramid, the iconic 1973 structure that thousands of residents and outsiders petitioned to save.

Connors, an engineer and the city's public works administrator, said he had concerns about reusing the structure, and also questioned the wisdom of Destination St. Pete Pier's plan to allow private vehicles on a narrower pier approach, where they would converge with service trucks, bikers, runners and pedestrians.

Destination St. Pete Pier's creators, the St. Pete Design Group, is made up of the hometown team of Yann Weymouth, who designed the Dali museum, Harvard Jolly, the firm that created the original inverted pyramid pier, and Wannemacher Jensen, veteran of many city projects.

After the lengthy meeting, during which he spoke, Weymouth declined to comment.

"Not tonight," he said. "I don't want to talk right now."

But resident Mark Ellis said he is pleased that the committee will continue its evaluation.

"I think they lacked the information to make the proper vote," he said, adding that the nonbinding poll of residents should have had more weight in the decision.

Destination St. Pete Pier ranked first among those who completed the city's online survey, with Pier Park second and Blue Pier, eliminated early, third.

In keeping with Florida law, the committee had to rank no fewer than three design teams. When it does make its decision, it will be presented to the mayor and the City Council. It was expected that sometime in April, council members would be asked to approve a resolution acknowledging the committee's ranking and to authorize contract negotiations with the top-ranked team.

Even when the ranking is eventually made, though, there still is potential for another debacle. If the council does not approve negotiations with the frontrunner, the process will have to begin anew.

Additionally, if negotiations don't go well with the top-ranked design team, they could be terminated and discussions begun with the second-ranked team, and then, if necessary, the third.

Contact Waveney Ann Moore at wmoore@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2283. Follow @wmooretimes on Twitter.