Revival brings changes to Drew/Plaza Park

Efforts to restore the neighborhood are on a roll: houses rebuilt, property values up and crime down.

By KYLA K. WILSON

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 8, 2000

CLEARWATER -- Looking for a new home, Brian King surveyed the Drew/Plaza Park neighborhood and saw a big asset: location.

It was a mile from downtown, 10 minutes from the beach, 30 minutes from the airport.

But it also suffered from rundown houses, code violations and crime.

King, 31, and his wife, Michelle, 28, added it all up and decided to buy a house in Drew/Plaza Park three years ago for $55,000. Besides location, they saw another neighborhood asset: promise.

Since then, they have spent thousands of dollars to repair the home's air conditioning and wiring, among other things, and "we probably got $10,000 more to spend, to get it where we want it to be," King said.

The Kings are one part of a burgeoning effort to turn around Drew/Plaza Park, an 11-block area between N Myrtle Avenue, N Greenwood Avenue, Drew Street and Maple Street. In 1999 approximately 43 percent of the properties in the Drew/Plaza Park area were cited for code violations. With individuals and government pitching in, houses are being built or restored, property values are rising and crime is dropping.

Three months ago, the Clearwater Neighborhood Services Division started a neighborhood rehabilitation program. As part of the effort, World Changers, a faith-based non-profit group, will supply 300 volunteers to restore six homes in the neighborhood from July 22 to 29.

Also, the city's Housing Division, working with non-profit agencies, has built eight homes in the neighborhood in the past few years and plans to build four more.

"In comparison to where this neighborhood was five or six years ago, it's really doing well," said Fredd Hinson, Neighborhood Services manager. "We are working with neighborhood associations. Residents have formed crime watches with the Police Department. We are helping build relationships with neighbors who have become apathetic."

Crime, including drugs and prostitution, has dropped in Drew/Plaza Park, said Sgt. James Quinland, who patrols the neighborhood.

"It's a rather good area -- crime is down," he said. "It's a very culturally diverse area."

Still, some residents say crime remains a problem and are hoping for improvements. Hinson said some of that is a matter of perception. "Neighbors sometimes say there is crime because they see loitering," he said, "but that doesn't actually qualify as crime."

Mariam Fruster, 77, who has lived there nine years, agreed that crime has gone down, but said she still sees illegal activity.

"It's cleaned up a little bit," she said. "We used to have a lot of drug houses. We still have some. But maybe it's going to get better."

People like King see that promise, and he hopes more of his neighbors will see it, too.

"Some people do not have much money but try to keep their place looking good," he said. "Other people don't care. I think people need to take more pride in their property."

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