A major attribute of our city’s specialness is our sense of place. A large part of our sense of place is the unique blend of historic buildings and places along with the excitement of new development. St. Petersburg Chamber President Chris Steinocher stated it well: “The secret of our City’s current livability is the vibe created by offering the natural mix of wonderfully built historic structures and districts, seamlessly connected and complemented with new developments and dwellings.”

But despite this recognition of the importance of historic preservation, our city has once again gone through a contentious debate trying to find a balance between new development and historic preservation.… Read More

St. Petersburg cannot be called a ‘one-horse town.’ In fact, in addition to the quaint horse-drawn carriages along Beach Drive, the city has a Mounted Police Unit that patrols the downtown waterfront parks and entertainment district. The Mounted Unit, which consists of two officers and two horses, is part of the Traffic Division of the St. Petersburg Police Department as an enhancement to the police presence downtown, particularly during weekends and special events.

In July, 2009 when the Boston Police Department was in the process of disbanding their historic mounted units, they donated two of their trained, Percheron/Thoroughbred-cross horses to the St.… Read More

Granada Terrace resident Tom Davis is a true craftsman – even an artist. Craftsmen work with their hands and heads, but artists also work with their hearts according to St. Francis of Assisi. Well, Tom certainly has heart – he spends 4-6 hours per day at the Morean Center for Clay totally immersed in pottery. He even sometimes helps with the firing of ceramic creations. Imagine that in Florida’s summer heat.

Tom first embraced pottery in South Korea in 1971-72 where he was stationed as a captain in the US Air Force. His teacher was a famous potter named Angelo Garzio specializing in Raku ware, a type of Japanese pottery customarily used in tea ceremonies since the 16th century.… Read More

In a world where it seems that obtaining things is most important, it is always reassuring to hear about someone doing something selfless for others. This is especially true when the person is a 13-year-old 8th grader! Meira Kowalski is a student at Shorecrest Preparatory School in Northeast St Petersburg and what she is doing is selfless and amazing.

Meira told me that she has always been drawn to charity work. In fact, on her 10th birthday, in lieu of gifts for herself, she raised money for Give Kids the World, a resort in Kissimmee (www.gktw.org) which hosts the families of children with life-threatening illnesses from around the world.… Read More

For two years now, Ardith Rutland has taken up the mantle of caring for the beloved ‘Pete’s Park’ located in the heart of the Coffee Pot Riviera neighborhood, on Snell Isle. When asked why, Ardith says, “From my kitchen window I can see the park, and for years the beds were overgrown and unsightly. I felt sorry for the lonely griffin statue in the corner of the park across the street from my house. The griffin was dirty and the flower bed was overgrown with weeds. I just got tired of looking at it! I decided something needed to be done, so I just started taking care of it.”… Read More

This is the second of a two-part article based on an extensive interview with former mayor Don Jones. Don Jones was mayor during a time of intense infrastructure improvement, and a watershed period for St. Petersburg’s civil rights history.

Upon his election as mayor in 1967, Don Jones announced three goals: the creation of small parks in needy areas of the city; transfer of Mound Park Hospital (now Bayfront) from city operation to a non-profit corporation; and increasing wages for city employees. During his first year in office, the first two goals were achieved. But in the midst of these progressive steps, a major city crisis was soon to erupt and it had to do with Mayor Jones’ third goal, adequate wages for city employees.… Read More

Soon, the last issue of the Neighborhood News will be arriving in our mailboxes! In its absence, what will we talk about? How will we know what’s going on in the Old Northeast?

No, this is not an obituary for Rick Carson (as he says tongue-in-cheek). Rather, this is a standing ovation, a Pulitzer Prize if you will, for the long-time editor of the HONNA (Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association) newsletter. There just isn’t a name for the honors he deserves for being the best, most patient, faithful, and longest-serving newsletter editor and photographer in the world of newsletter editors.

Who does a stress-filled, time-consuming, under-appreciated job for 14 years for free?… Read More

Local residents often see a neighbor’s yard filled with plastic flamingos for a day and accept it as a fun, crazy, ‘Florida’ way to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, birth, or other event. But, in fantastic style, Sunken Gardens has just received a flock of 20 young Chilean flamingos, and they are here for good. These youngsters join 60-year old George and Lucy, the only remaining flamingos out of an original flock of 17. In 1956, the flamingo flock was the most iconic feature of Sunken Gardens.

The public was invited to ‘meet and greet’ the youngsters on Sunday, May 1 and anyone wearing pink received $1 off their admission price.… Read More

Does The Old Northeast neighborhood attract artistic types, or does living here inspire our residents to develop their creative side? We have writers, painters, sculptors and other fine artists, photographers, performance artists, musicians, dancers and singers. Why, there’s even a hat maker and a fashion designer.

Our city is, after all, ranked the #1 arts destination for mid-sized cities (AmericanStyle Magazine) and one of America’s top arts places (ArtPlace America). National publications, including the New York Times, Forbes and National Geographic, rave about our arts and entertainment scene.

It should come as no surprise, then, that our creative corner of town is producing exceptionally talented kids who’ve grown up within walking distance of art museums, galleries, and live performance venues.… Read More

This is the first of a two-part article based on an extensive interview with former mayor Don Jones.  Don Jones was mayor during a time of intense infrastructure improvement, and a watershed period for St. Petersburg’s civil rights history.

Don Jones was city councilman from 1963-1967 and mayor from 1967-1969. In a recent interview, he described his tenure as ‘the best of times and the worst of times.’ “Five of those years were years of dramatic progress, accomplishment and growth. The sixth year was a time of stress, tension and confrontation due to the racial climate at that time in St.… Read More