Neighborhoods receive 'Main Street' designations

A year ago the two areas had been denied the title, and the three years of grants and support that come with it.

By BRYAN GILMER

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 24, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- Business groups that represent the 22nd Street S and the Grand Central business districts returned to St. Petersburg jubilant Thursday after their areas were recommended to become the only new "Florida Main Street Communities."

"It's such a relief," David Gruskin, president of the Grand Central District Association, said Thursday evening just before the two groups celebrated with a champagne toast at the Grand Central District's office, 2438 Central Ave.

The designation means each group will receive a $10,000 grant for three years and that the state will fund other supportive services, such as a marketing plan, for each one. The two St. Petersburg neighborhoods beat out ones in the communities of Melbourne and Jay. The St. Petersburg groups were turned down for the designation last year.

It is unusual for two sections of the same city to apply for and receive the designation in the same year. About 100 people traveled by bus from St. Petersburg to a conference in Eustis to lobby for the districts' selection. Secretary of State Katherine Harris must confirm the designation by a committee of revitalization experts.

Gruskin said the selection should provide the groups with some of the support they need as they work to turn around their struggling business districts.

"It provides you with a network of 1,500 other Main Street programs who have already been through this," as well as the financial support, he said.

Tarpon Springs has received the designation and the three years of support, which have now expired, that city's mayor, Frank DiDonato, said Thursday.

He said that the resources were helpful, but he cautioned the new Main Street groups to work hard to become self-sufficient before those resources run out.

"That resource goes away," he said. "You're only designated for a point in time. Then, you're supposed to be on your own feet. In the beginning, take that direction so it continues to help your area."

That's something Gruskin said he realizes. Grand Central has a city-funded plan for improvements that would help the district, and the streetscaping alone is estimated to cost $18-million, he said.

"Ten thousand dollars doesn't go very far toward $18-million," he said.

The 22nd Street South Redevelopment Corp. hopes to restore the stretch of that thoroughfare south of Interstate 275 to the glory it enjoyed decades ago as a center of business and entertainment for African-Americans.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright