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Neighborhood notebook

Murals to help beautify bland feature in Live Oaks

By PAUL SWIDER
Published October 16, 2005

A river runs through it. Okay, it's a drainage ditch, but the Live Oaks neighborhood it bisects enjoys its water feature and the wildlife it attracts.

"It looks like a creek," said Mariella Stevens, the association president of the neighborhood that contains the ditch in the middle of Burlington Avenue. "There's wildlife, ducks, birds, turtles, someone even saw an otter in there."

Despite the menagerie, Stevens said, the ditch is an "eyesore" mainly because of the six bland concrete culverts that cross it between 52nd Street and 58th Street. So she and her neighbors set about to fix that.

With a city beautification grant that also bought signs and park benches, the neighborhood started last week to paint murals on their unsightly culverts. Soon, instead of looking at dull gray cement on walks down the street they'll be looking at colorful paintings of a sunset with a panther, old-world bridges, native birds and other Florida scenes to blend in with the critters that already grace their ditch.

"Everyone's very excited about it," Stevens said. "It's a way to bring art into the neighborhood."

The project will cost about $14,000 from the original $20,000 the city granted, Stevens said. And it will serve as a showcase for area muralists.

Kell Holiman, of Tropical Funk Studios, will prepare two of the culverts, one of a koi pond and the other of a sunset based on a sketch by artist Peter Bramley, who passed away earlier this year before he could paint the mural himself. Two more culverts will be the canvas for the Vitale Brothers' Paul Vitale, who will make the culverts look like attractive bridges. On the last two culverts, Brian Ottoson will paint swamp and native bird scenes.

Weather permitting, the project should be completed in time for Live Oaks' next big event, its fourth annual Oktoberfest, which will kick off at the 52nd Street end of the ditch at 3 p.m. Oct. 22.

Oktoberfest will feature games, live music, German food (no beer), a silent auction, a bicycle obstacle course, a pet costume contest, and a dunk tank that will allow participants to dunk "as many city officials as we can including the president of the neighborhood association," Stevens said.

The Greater Pinellas Point Neighborhood Association is sponsoring a Family Fun Day Oct. 22 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Pinellas Point Community Baptist Church, 2250 Roy Hanna Drive S. The community awareness event will offer free hot dogs and hamburgers, games and activities from TASCO (Teen Arts, Sports and Cultural Opportunities), the Youth United marching band, and more. For more information, contact the church at 867-5824.

The Perkins Neighborhood Association will be choosing at its next meeting a representative to the Florida Neighborhoods Conference in Lakeland. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. Monday at Perkins Elementary School, 2205 18th Ave. S. The neighborhoods conference, Oct. 20-22, is "dedicated to empowering residents to become more effective in leading their own communities."

The Meadowlawn Neighborhood Association will hold its monthly meeting Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Hope Lutheran Church, 1801 62nd Ave. N. Alan Rosetti, St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue captain at Station 7, will talk about fire safety.

The Harris Park Neighborhood Association will meet Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the Vietnamese Alliance Church, 4344 21st St. N. The meeting will feature the second of two candidates forums.

The Old Pasadena Neighborhood Association's annual neighborhood yard sale is set for Saturday from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. on the corner of Villa Grande Ave. S. and Bougainvilla. Proceeds will benefit neighborhood grant projects.

The Greater Pinellas Point Civic Association general meeting will be Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Bay Vista Recreation Center, Fourth Street S at Pinellas Point Drive. On the agenda is a discussion about the proposed cell phone tower at Skyway Plaza. There will also be a speaker from the Native Plant Society.

The Crescent Heights Neighborhood Association is hosting a candidates forum Tuesdayfrom 7-8 p.m. at Church of the Beatitudes at the corner of 29th Avenue N and Eighth Street N. The association has confirmed attendance from City Council candidates in districts 4, 6, and 8, as well as the mayoral race. The association is inviting members of the Greater Woodlawn Neighborhood Association as well.

Steve Graves of the Grand Central District association is collecting promotional materials to be distributed to attendees of the Florida Redevelopment Association conference, which will be held at the Hilton Hotel downtown Wednesday through Friday. For information, contact Graves at 328-7086.

The Northeast Park Neighborhood Association will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at the Masonic Home, 3201 First St. NE. Mayor Rick Baker will be the guest speaker.

The Riviera Bay Civic Association is having its Bi-Annual Yard Sale Friday through Oct. 23 starting at 8 a.m. each day. About 50 homeowners will be participating in the sale. Maps of the area will be handed out at each sale and will be attached to the large signs on Fourth Street.

The Broadwater Civic Association will hold its Sixth Annual Broadwater Family Picnic on Oct. 23 at Fort De Soto Park East Pavilion from noon-4 p.m.

Mayoral and City Council candidates will debate at the regular board meeting of the Council of Neighborhood Association on Wednesday starting at 6:45 p.m. at the Sunshine Center, 330 Fifth St. N. The League of Women Voters is co-sponsoring the event. Instead of attempting to tell people how to vote, CONA attempts to facilitate the flow of information between candidates and voters. Questions must be submitted in writing and timers will be used for answers. Topics are not limited but suggested to include housing/redevelopment and policing/quality-of-life issues. CONA will hold another debate, along with the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, on Oct. 27 at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club.

Readers wishing to submit information for the Neighborhood Notebook can contact Times correspondent Paul Swider either by e-mail at pswider@sptimes.com or by phone at 776-9979. Neighborhood association presidents who would like to publish their organization's information directly to the Web on their own itsyourtimes.com blog should also contact Paul Swider at pswider@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 16, 2005, 01:32:18]