Photos are courtesy of the City of St. Petersburg.It was 1902, and the term "city" as applied to the City of St. Petersburg wasn't much more -- in the larger scheme of things -- than hyperbole on the part of the residents.
After all, the town, still in its teens , was at the lower end of a peninsula with no egress except by sea. Railroad and steamship service had brought in tourists and far-thinking investors from the North. But the building booms that created most of the buildings we visualize when we think of historic St. Petersburg were still almost two decades away.
Something else was booming, however. A mighty stench was beginning to rise from the waterfront area where the town's garbage mingled with waste from fish processing plants and other dockside businesses and washed up on shore.
People began to worry that the smell would drive tourists away. Other people were concerned that the garbage made the whole area unhealthy. Still other people saw the smell as the price of economic growth that came with having a commercial port.
Voters elected waterfront park supporters to the City Council in 1906, and the Board of Trade (later the Chamber of Commerce) began acquiring waterfront property for the city to create parks as funds became available. After another back-and-forth struggle over the use of the property, the first waterfront park was dedicated in December 1910. Seawalls began to be installed in 1911.
Today, the chain of eleven city-owned parks extends 23 blocks from Albert Whitted Airport in the south to Coffee Pot Bayou in the north. They are the site of major events throughout the year -- and afford residents and tourists an anytime green-break and unimpeded view of the bay.
The Waterfront Park Centennial Celebration has been a year-long birthday party for the parks. Upcoming events include a Photo Contest (deadline is October 1 -- submit your entry on the Web site), October Movies & Music in the Parks (October 7 & October 14), and a Party in the Parks mega-celebration on November 6.
