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Business-lined street sprouts new identity

A stretch of Fourth Street in St. Petersburg has a new name and plans, designed to get people to linger, walk and spend.

By NICK BIRDSONG
Published June 22, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Sometime between noon and 1 p.m. Friday, city officials, in conjunction with the Fourth Street Business Association, decorated the classicly designed light posts along Fourth Street between Ninth and 30th avenues N.

The posts were adorned with vibrantly colored pennants that proclaim the area the Fourth Street Garden District. Organizers managed to do so under the radar of those who do business along the busy corridor.

Many who worked in the area didn't notice the flags as they dangled in the midmorning breeze Tuesday. What's more, few could figure out why the area was being renamed. Some speculated that it had something to do with the remodeled plaza on Fourth Street near Sunken Gardens.

The plaza, which includes a Carrabba's Italian Grill, Great Explorations and Coldstone Creamery, is believed by some to be the focal point of the blossoming commercial zone. But the new name and the marketing muscle being put forth to make it known came as a surprise to at least one Sunken Gardens employee.

"I have no idea who put the signs up," said office assistant Sandy Linkenheimer. "These people around here consider this to be the Garden District."

Others thought it had more to do with Old Northeast residents wanting to showcase the botanical beauty of their homes.

"These people like to keep up their yards," said a PSTA bus driver as he poured a cup of coffee at Starbucks on Fourth Street. "That's the only reason I can think they would want to call this area the Garden District. But I'm not from around here."

The several women working at Rogers Dry Cleaners on Fourth Street N scurried to the door to view the newly decorated light posts. They hadn't noticed the flags either.

M.C. Rogers had the answer.

"The Fourth Street Business Association has plans to revitalize with landscaping and the lights," said Rogers, who owns the cleaners, which has been family owned and operated since 1916, and belongs to the association. "It's something that has been in the works for a while."

"They want to give it a more of a boulevard feel as opposed to just a busy street," said his son, Mitchell.

He said the association wants to make the area a shopping destination, where folks will park, get out and walk to establishments, all the while spending money.

"Their desire is to provide more access to restaurants like Outback. They want to make it easier to walk across Fourth Street," he said.

The association is trying to improve the appearance of the area as well, Mitchell Rogers said. The medians are already trim with floral arrangements and park benches for patrons who need a rest in between purchases, he said.

Whether spending thousands of dollars on fluorescent flags and changing the name of the Fourth Street Business District will convert an area famous for its service businesses and small shops into Rodeo Drive is still up for debate.

"As far as our business volume going up, I don't know," M.C. Rogers said, but "any time you do any improvement like landscaping, it can't hurt."

[Last modified June 22, 2005, 01:09:13]