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Ideas for Williams Park incorporate museum
By ANDREW MEACHAM ST. PETERSBURG -- Call it brainstorming or barnstorming. The brain trusts at the North Downtown Neighborhood Association don't care what you call it; they just want someone to take a look at a few of their ideas that would transform Williams Park and the surrounding commercial areas. A meeting of the association's planning committee Wednesday produced only two members: Tim Baker, NoDo's president, and immediate past president Tim Clemmons. "Usually, we'll have half a dozen people show up," Baker said. But the pair seemed unperturbed as they perused plans that Clemmons had drawn up for commercial development in areas of the park now taken up by buses. Among their ideas: Sidewalk food vendors along First Avenue N, between Third and Fourth Streets. The city would lease the spots yearly to vendors of ice cream, sandwiches, and so on. Consolidating all of the Florida International Museum onto the building's west end. The westernmost 230 feet of the existing building then would use the original Maas Brothers entrance at Third Street and First Avenue N as its main entrance, with exhibits on the second floor and pockets of retail on First Avenue N and on Third Street N. Using the remaining 130 feet of the existing building -- "a 34,000 square-foot space" -- for some other civic purpose. Moving buses to Sixth Street, between First Avenue N and First Avenue S. Baker and Clemmons, who with the planning committee have discussed Williams Park for months now, had fewer ideas about what to do with the area's homeless, who now occupy much of the park. "To be honest, the word is 'dispersal,' " Clemmons said. "Why weren't the homeless perceived as a problem six years ago? Because one slept here and one slept there." St. Vincent de Paul Society's planned 88 units of transitional housing at 401 15th St. N could perhaps alleviate the problem of people sleeping outside and on bus benches, Clemmons said. Concerns about the homeless in Williams Park extend beyond NoDo. "It's a hard question," said Crescent Heights president Stephanie Pitts. "You have to care for the less fortunate in our city. The problem is that they congregate in one area and then take over, so no one else can use it." Lakewood Terrace hosts a flea market at 9 a.m. Saturday at 30th Avenue and Seventh Street S. An Easter egg hunt and spaghetti lunch will follow. Donation is $2.50 for adults. Hot dogs are free to children. For this month only, Lakewood Estates Neighborhood Watch will meet Tuesdays at St. Petersburg Little Theater, 4025 31st St. S. The group's ongoing focus on local and national security brings a postal inspector to the speaker's podium this month. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. MeetingsBROADWATER: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, 3747 34th St. S. CENTRAL OAK PARK: 7 p.m. Tuesday. St. Luke's United Methodist Church, 4444 Fifth Ave. N. Property appraiser Jim Smith; neighborhood transportation manager Michael Frederick. COUNCIL OF NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS: 7 p.m. Wednesday. St. Petersburg Public Library, 3745 Ninth Ave. N. Engineering, Stormwater and Transportation Director Michael Connors; Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark. CRESCENT HEIGHTS: 7 p.m. Tuesday. American Baptist Church, 2812 Eighth St. N. Architect Tim Clemmons; also Chris Anderson, on plans for carwash. EDGEMOOR: 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Faith Covenant Church, 150 62nd Ave. NE. FOSSIL PARK: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Huber Gardens, 521 69th Ave. N. Attorney Darryl Rouson; traffic engineer Jeff Ritter; police Sgt. Tim Montinari. FRUITLAND HEIGHTS/CASLER HEIGHTS: 7 p.m. Wednesday. Omega House, 1836 20th Ave. S. GREATER PINELLAS POINT: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Bay Vista Recreation Center, 7000 Fourth St. S. JUNGLE TERRACE: 7 p.m. Monday. Walter Fuller Recreation Center, 7891 26th Ave. N. Mayor Rick Baker; also Home Depot representative, on plans for the old Ward's building in Crossroads Shopping Center. HARRIS PARK: 7:30 p.m. Monday. Vietnamese Alliance Church, 4344 21st St. N. LAKEWOOD TERRACE: 7 p.m. Thursday. Coquina Key Resource Center, 435 45th Ave. S. MEADOWLAWN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Bethel Lutheran Church, 1801 62nd Ave. N. Police Officer Chip Wells, Crime Awareness Unit. MOBEL AMERICANA: 7 p.m. Wednesday. Clubhouse, 7201 First St. N. Audit report. NORTH SHORE: 7 p.m. Monday. Westminster Presbyterian Church, 126 11th Ave. NE. Police Chief Chuck Harmon. PERKINS: 7 p.m. Monday. Perkins Elementary School, 2205 18th Ave. S. Codes, community police officer review. PONCE DE LEON: 7 p.m. Thursday. Gladden Park Recreation Center, 3901 30th Ave. N. TWIN BROOKS: 6:30 p.m. Monday. Childs Park United Methodist Church, 3940 18th Ave. S. Neighborhood planner Andy Garr. UNIVERSITY PARK: 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Sunshine Center, second floor, 330 Fifth St. N. Architect and two developers to speak on townhouse plans. WINSTON PARK: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. North Branch Library, 861 70th Ave. N. GRAND CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT: 5:15 p.m. Tuesday. YMCA, 3200 First Ave. S. Parking enforcement on Central Avenue.
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