ST. PETERSBURG - Grand Central District, already designated a Florida Main Street Community for its makeover of Central Avenue, just got another jolt of confidence.
In April, the heavyweight organization for historic preservation selected Grand Central for its 2004 Outstanding Achievement award. The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit corporation, will present the award May 14 during its annual conference in Delray Beach.
Public and private sources have poured $1.27-million into the area between First Avenue N and First Avenue S from Interstate 275 to 31st Street, according to state figures. The investment and more than 3,000 volunteer hours have helped generate 22 businesses and 109 jobs since Grand Central was designated a historic district in 2001.
Grand Central has restored hotels and other buildings along Central Avenue, attempting to match original design wherever possible, director Gary Barnes said.
The impetus to snag the prestigious award came from the organization's members. Suzanne LaBerge, Grand Central's former Main Street manager, looked over a list of award categories recognizing individuals or places that had contributed significantly to an area or town. She decided Central Avenue fit the bill. So did the design committee LaBerge chairs, whose members began preparing the application.
The group received word in April that the trust had tapped them for an award. It's unusual for commercial districts to win recognition for historic preservation, said Laura Lee Corbett, the state's top Main Street official, who wrote to the trust recommending Grand Central for the award.
The Florida Main Street program helps retail districts with cash grants, management training, consultant visits, and technical assistance; and asks them to streamline their efforts along four distinct lines: design, economic restructuring, organization and promotion.
"They use all four points of our approach, they don't pick and choose what they want to do," said Corbett, Florida's Main Street coordinator. Visiting consultants come away impressed by Grand Central, she said - and by the 22nd Street district, St. Petersburg's other Main Street community - and suggest that St. Petersburg host a conference for the national preservation organization.
Grand Central president Doug Linder and director Barnes on May 9-12 will attend the National Trust for Historic Preservation conference in Albuquerque, N.M., to investigate a possible bid to do just that. Grand Central hosted the Florida Main Street conference in November at the St. Petersburg Hilton.
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The Uptown Neighborhood Crime Watch will resume meetings, starting 7 p.m. Thursday at the Sunshine Center, 330 Fifth St. N. The group will monitor crime between Fifth and 12th avenues N between Fourth and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street; and between Fifth and Ninth avenues N between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and 16th Street.
The Audubon Society will host a free nature walk Saturday in Shore Acres. The three-hour walk led by Barbara Zias starts at 9 a.m. at 5851 Bayou Grande Boulevard NE, and follows the shoreline. Participants can park at Denver Park, at the corner of Ohio and Tanglewood.
About 40 homes are participating in a Euclid-St. Paul's yard sale Saturday. Association boundaries run from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to 16th Street, from Ninth to 22nd avenues N.
The Lake Maggiore Shores Neighborhood Association is looking for vendors for its community yard sale May 22 at Lakeview Presbyterian Church, 1310 22nd Ave. S, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tables or spaces are available for $10 each and must be reserved in advance by calling Connie Small, 895-3259, by May 19.
The scheduled May 5 meeting for the Broadwater comprehensive plan has been canceled. However, neighborhood committees will still meet at 7 p.m. May 5 at the National Guard Armory, 3601 38th Ave. S. All residents are invited to attend.
