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Welcome on board
By JOHN REINAN ST. PETERSBURG -- Ralph Clark speaks directly, as 87-year-olds tend to do. And on the state of shuffleboard, Clark has a definite opinion. "No one wants to take it up anymore," said Clark, who has been playing the game daily since he retired 18 years ago. "The younger generation has to work two jobs just to make a living. "And the older ones are dying off." The numbers make his point. In the years after World War II, the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club had more than 8,000 members. By the mid '70s, membership had declined to around 3,000. And today? The club has 132 members -- barely enough to fill out a game on each of the club's 65 playable courts. "Years ago, a lot of the members lived downtown," said Mary Eldridge, club president since 1998. "It was a real community. Then people moved out. "The older population that typically played shuffleboard has moved to condos and mobile home parks out in the county." Shuffleboard was once a signature attraction of St. Petersburg, along with the green benches downtown and the Webb's City retail complex. The benches and Webb's City are long gone. But the grand shuffleboard park that was built in the game's heyday still stands on the north shore of Mirror Lake downtown, complete with a 472-seat stadium. The buildings are aging, but not shabby. And the smooth, tidy courts live up to Eldridge's claim that she presides over "the best shuffleboard-playing facility anywhere in the world." Eldridge said her main objective is to build up the club's membership roll and introduce more people to the game. And demographics, which once worked against the club, may now be shifting a bit in its favor. Downtown is experiencing a boom in residential construction, and many of the newcomers are younger people with families. A few downtown residents have discovered the shuffleboard club and are beginning to spread the word. "Everybody can play. You're outdoors. It's a great family activity," said Randy Loyd, 36, who has been taking free lessons at the club for several months now. Loyd, who describes himself as a "shuffleboard activist," said the club's charming, jewel-box character evokes images of a simpler time. "You feel a little connection with the real, old St. Pete," he said. His wife, Martha, agreed. "I love the atmosphere," she said. "You can feel the history." In hopes of preserving that history, the city of St. Petersburg took over operation of the 2.3-acre complex about four years ago. The city has always owned the land, which is also home to the St. Petersburg Lawn Bowling Club and the St. Petersburg Chess Club. But all the buildings were built over the years by the clubs themselves. That was possible when there were thousands of dues-paying members, but in recent years the expense became too much for the clubs to bear. The official name of the facility is now the Mirror Lake Historic Recreation Complex, and a city official said it could be a focal point of a park ribbon along the lakeshore tying together the recreation complex, the Coliseum, the Mirror Lake Library and City Hall. "We do see it continuing as a recreational complex, not commercial or residential," said John Green, capital improvements director for the city Leisure Services Agency. "We've got an informal idea of what we would like to do." Long-range plans might include removing some shuffleboard courts to make room for additional activities, such as volleyball, tennis or a playground. However, money could be an issue. Green said it would take $1.5-million to $2-million "to really do things right," but the city currently has many other park and recreation projects that rank as higher priorities than the shuffleboard complex. The city has gotten tentative approval for a $200,000 state historic preservation grant that would cover some immediate structural repairs. But the grant won't be official until the state's budget for fiscal year 2003 is approved sometime in 2002. And in a time of cutbacks, there are no sure things. Green said the shuffleboard complex wasn't included in the city's current request for money from the Penny for Pinellas, the one-cent countywide sales tax. It could be included in the next round of requests, but those won't take effect until 2011 -- and that's assuming voters eventually authorize another 10-year cycle of the penny tax. The best financial scenario in the near term, Green said, would be for the city to land several more state historic-preservation grants. Club president Eldridge said she is eager to work with the city on any plans. In the meantime, she'll be trying to make more converts to the game that's so much a part of St. Petersburg's heritage. "It's a great thing," she said. "You can have fun all day, and no batteries required."
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