On Central Avenue in St. Petersburg, the shops on the north side of Central Avenue between 6th Street and 7th Street have been a dead zone since 2006.  All of the property had been purchased by a developer who had plans to tear everything down and build new condominiums and shops.  But that was before real estate values tanked and the economy slowed so dramatically.  Financing dried up, the developer got cold feet, and the property was sold again, this time to an investor, Tom Gaffney, who plans to hold onto the property until the economy improves and real estate is again golden, at which time he will either raze the old buildings and redevelop the land or sell the property to a developer who will redevelop it.

Crislip Arcade Facade (click for full size image)

It wasn’t always this way.  The Crislip Arcade, once one of ten arcade style shopping areas in downtown St. Petersburg, was built in 1926 during the boom years for St. Petersburg construction.  (See my Snell Arcade  post from August 7th.)  The arcade style of shops was the 1920′s version of today’s shopping mall.  By using the ‘walk through’ concept, many store fronts could exist in a place where only a few could actually face onto the main road.  The Crislip Arcade, in the middle of the 600 block, was designed by St. Petersburg architect Edgar Ferdon, a man who can be found all over the Internet for having designed beautiful buildings in the early 1900′s, many of which survive today.  The Arcade itself is built in the Masonry Vernacular style, which was prevalent between 1900 and 1930.  Characteristics of this style include a regular/rectangular floor plan, a continous or slab foundation, either one or two stories tall.  The primary exterior building material was brick, stucco, or rough texture, roof type was usually flat with parapets, and ornamentation was normally kept simple.

Although the Crislip Arcade and the shops on either side of it housed viable businesses for decades, since 2006 the entire block has been a wasteland of empty shops.  The arcade style of shops has gone largely out of favor as businesses moved into malls and newer upscale shopping developments.  (For an interesting look back in time, check out this article from the June 16, 1974 issue of the St. Petersburg Times on ”The Vanishing Arcade“).    The storefronts have sometimes been used as sleeping quarters for those with nowhere else to sleep, and people  with businesses across the street and in nearby areas have seen their business hurt by the long dormant shops.  Rather than allow the empty shops to continue to deteriorate, a grand plan has come together that involves the property owner,  a core of dedicated volunteers who are driving the plan, a larger group of volunteers who have freely given their time and work, the administration of the City of St. Petersburg,  and a large number of local artists who love the idea of using these spaces for studios and/or galleries.

Ad from The Evening Independent Oct 25, 1938

The plan is essentially this:  The owner of the property and shops has agreed to rent all of the shops in the area to local artists at a very reasonable rate.  For their part, the volunteers and the artist/tenants will take care of necessary renovations before moving into the spaces.  The volunteers driving this project hosted a major cleanup effort back in July that attracted more than 70 people to help clear out and clean up the shop spaces. 

This morning, there was a big sidewalk sale held in the 600 block of Central, where everything that was still in the shops was sold to the public.  I saw display fixtures, furniture, antiques, lamps, fans, an old drill press, and hundreds of other items that were up for grabs.  Most items were sold on a ‘make me an offer’ basis.  All of the money taken in from the sale is going back into the project to help prepare the shops for their use as artist spaces. (And, yes, I did come home with a great old GE oscillating stand fan that cost me five bucks – needs a little cleanup, but I can use it in my garage and it’s a fun souvenir of times gone by!)

Sidewalk Sale

Looking for Bargains

With no crystal ball to predict how quickly the economy and real estate values will recover, we know that, for awhile, at least, the 600 block of Central Avenue and the old Crislip Arcade are going to come alive again.  There are 35 spaces to rent and there are over 60 artists who want to rent there, so before long, we should  have a very active and exciting artist colony taking root on Central Avenue.  Over the next couple of months, work will continue on these spaces and when I hear about a grand opening of any sort, I’ll get some more photographs and will be sure to post about it.  In the meantime, if you’re in the area, keep your eyes open and you should see things progressing!