New funding and leadership will propel long-discussed efforts to upgrade Williams Park and establish a St. Petersburg Downtown Improvement District.
A nonprofit group recently secured $800,000 in state funding to enhance St. Petersburg’s first park, which opened in 1888. The city has already allocated $1.2 million to repair its iconic bandshell, designed by renowned architect William B. Harvard in the early 1950s.
Those efforts intertwine with the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership’s plans to develop a “Clean and Safe” urban management program. Shaun Drinkard, who previously served as Senior Vice President of Public Programming and Operations for the Tampa Downtown Partnership, will oversee the local initiative…