St. Pete leaders hoping Williams Park facelift will transform it into public square, destination

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A park in the middle of downtown St. Petersburg is getting a facelift.

Williams Park hosts events throughout the year, like Localtopia, and the Saturday Morning Market in the summer, but the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership says it wants to make the space somewhere people want to come to every day of the year.

"For many years, Williams Park has kind of languished a little bit, and it's still a great public space," Jason Mathis, the CEO of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership, said. "It's a historic public space. We want to make sure it lives up to its full potential."

Big picture view:

The goal is to transform Williams Park in downtown St. Petersburg into a public square and a destination, Mathis said. 

They’ve been working with Dan Biederman — who’s credited with reviving Bryant Park in Manhattan in the 1980s — on concepts for the three acres for many years. They’ve brought him on to do some consulting over the past three to four months.

"We feel like Williams Park is never going to be Bryant Park. We're not Manhattan. We know that, but clearly there are some lessons we can learn about how we can make Williams Park even better than it already is," Mathis said. "He [Biederman] actually said this park is in pretty good shape. You don't need a lot of capital improvements."

Now, they’re working on turning those concepts into realities.

"He has really focused a lot on programming, so making sure that this part becomes a destination for people. You think about the St. Pete Pier and people wanting to go there. Part of that's because it's beautifully maintained. It's landscaped nicely. There’s a lot of care and attention to that. It's also because there are a lot of activities that happen there," Mathis said.

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Dig deeper:

Mathis says they hope to supplement the activities at the Pier, which is just a few blocks away, with activities in Williams Park like yoga classes, movie nights, food truck Fridays and more.

"We're going to do programming in the park every day of the year to make sure it stays vibrant, dynamic, something that's an attraction for people. We've got some big ideas about what's going to happen at the end of this year. So, we're not waiting. We're now slowing down. At the end of this year, we are going to start programming the park in a really major way after the construction is done," Mathis said.

He's talking about the city renovating the historic band shell in the park that’s starting in late spring, early summer and their own projects in the park. 

Shaun Drinkard, the vice president of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership, said they plan to work alongside the city using $800,000 from the state to add better lighting, enhance the entries to the park and work on the landscaping. 

That should wrap up in early 2027.

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"Design is important to ensure we do the right things for future programming, but we also want to get a start on programming now, and we'll marry the two together so we can work in partnership with the city," Drinkard said.

The non-profit hopes giving Williams Park a facelift will uplift the entire downtown.

What they're saying:

Mathis says they’re also trying to raise about half a million dollars for the programming. So far, they’ve raised about $250,000 with the help of nearby businesses and property owners.

Mathis said they’re also working on creating a clean team ambassador program for St. Pete. It’s something Tampa has had for several years, he said.

"St. Pete is actually a pretty clean, safe place already, which has made it a little bit harder for us to advocate for this, because people are like, ‘why do we need this? Downtown is great.’ We just want to make sure it stays great, that it stays beautiful, it stays someplace that's attracting a lot of visitors," he said.

"Their job will be really taking a hard look at every part of downtown and making sure there's no graffiti, that there's gum on the sidewalk, that cigarette butts get cleaned up. Some parts of downtown need a little more than others, and we'll devote the resources where it's needed the most. But we've really got an opportunity to make sure that this incredible asset, that downtown St. Pete, stays a beautiful place that attracts people from all over the world to live, to have fun, to work. We've got something great, we want to make it stays great," he said.

What's next:

Mathis said city council is supportive of the idea and in the next week or so, the city will put out requests for bids for the program. 

Mathis said they’re hoping to put parking meters in parts of downtown that don’t have them yet to generate funding for the program.

"In most places, it's a dollar an hour, so it's not going to cost anybody that much money, but in total it can generate about a million dollars a year, and we'd like to put that money back into downtown," he said.

"We will actually pay people. It's actually a great employment resource for people. We're going to pay solid wages. It's a professional job. People get a 401k. They'll get vacation time. So, we really want to treat people like professionals," Mathis said.

St. Petersburg