Story by Steve Traiman
The Corey Area Business Association (CABA) is doing its best for business members to help offset the multiple street closings affecting the area in St. Pete Beach during major infrastructure construction.
CABA president Yvonne Marcus, who owns Art Expo Gallery, purchased the business from Kate Burt in 1978. It was originally the Corey Avenue Hardware Store and after Kate added framing and art supplies, Yvonne bought the store and it evolved into Art Expo today.
She told Paradise News, “CABA has been an active entity since 1973-74 and one of the charter members was my dad Joe Franko who purchased Reardon Office Supply in 1973. I had worked at the old Beach Theater as a teenager.
“We usually have between 25 and 50 active members, with our boundaries east to west from waterfront to waterfront, and four blocks north and south of Corey. We offer a lot of great events for people who live, work and visit here. We use what we earn from our events – the Sunday Market, arts and crafts shows and more recently the Seafood and Crab Music Festivals to promote our downtown area. Our primary goal is to get people across the bridge to St. Pete Beach and it’s up to our members to get them into their stores.
“CABA also supports local charities with annual events for the Turtle Trackers and Pet Pal, with Cheryl West of Paradise Gifts handling all details. She encourages both groups to bring plenty of info materials to their respective events to get volunteers and donors.
“Our prime concern is naturally with the ongoing city infrastructure construction and we are working with the City Commission and City Manager Alex Rey.
“Regarding infrastructure improvements and street closures, our largest events have lost approximately one third the available space. Upon completion, roughly three quarters of that space will be regained, with only a small percentage of spaces permanently lost to the large bump outs at the intersection.”
Marcus noted that CABA’s key goals and objectives in partnership with the city include:
1. Expand membership to include businesses located outside of our event footprint and create a more inclusive “community” by encouraging interaction with residents to work toward the common goal of creating a vibrant downtown corridor.
2. Create a larger “pool of volunteers” to act on CABA’s behalf.
3. Improve communication and open meaningful dialog with the city in a more collaborative and mutually respectful manner regarding design and beautification.
4. Engage with our media partners proactively to promote the business interests of our community.
5. Continue to partner with the city in expanding our offering of varied enriching events – both entertaining and/or educational – further encouraging community development and bringing additional revenue to the entire area.
In addition to Marcus as president, other CABA officers are vice president Denise Reilly, Coastal Realty; treasurer Cheryl West, Paradise Gifts; secretary Stephen Desrocher, Crystal Spangles & Beads; and ex-officio board member Dan Harvey, a member of the downtown St. Pete Edge District Main Street Assn. who recently bought a Corey property.
City Responding to Queries
SPB City Manager Alex Rey told Paradise News, in response to queries on the infrastructure progress, “We expect the Blind Pass project to be completed by April, and at the Jan. 14 meeting, the Commission approved the sewer force main project. While the proposal has a preliminary schedule, we will be working with the contractor to finalize the schedule by early February.
“We will have another community meeting to update everyone on the overall project on Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 8:30am in the upstairs ballroom of the City Recreation Building at 7711 Boca Ciega Drive. Several city officials and Commission members will attend, and it will be hosted by Mike Clarke, Director of Public Works, and the engineers on the project to outline the schedule and processes.
“This is the second public meeting to present information updates on the upcoming Sanitary Sewer and Undergrounding of the Overhead Electrical Lines projects, with the first held last July.”
The Public Works Dept. noted that the sanitary sewer project will install a new pipe under the inside southbound lane from 37th Ave on Gulf Blvd. to Gulf Winds Drive then north on Boca Ciega Avenue to 87th Avenue. The electrical project will underground overhead electrical lines from 75th Avenue to 35th Avenue on both sides of Gulf Boulevard.
The sewer project is scheduled to begin in May 2020 and is expected to last approximately 16 months. The electrical project is anticipated to begin in May 2020 and last for up to two years.
Mayor Alan Johnson added, “The importance of these sewer, water and utilities improvements to our city is huge – particularly the sewer project. Having had a moratorium on construction of multi-unit buildings (condos or hotels) since 2016, there are numerous projects waiting to get started.
“The contract for the upgrades has been signed, lifting the moratorium so building can begin. Certificates of occupancy can be issued when the sewer work is completed in 2021. Public Works, under director Mike Clarke, is doing its best to minimize the disruption that significant construction like this causes to residents, visitors and businesses.
“The second of our continuing community information meetings will be on Feb. 11. With the public, all St. Pete Beach businesses and those who conduct business in our city encouraged to attend.”
Events Boost Corey Appeal
CABA has helped develop, handles all permitting and strongly supports the annual Sunday Market from October through May, a quartet of Arts & Crafts shows and annual Oktoberfest, Seafood and Crab festivals – with a new Jazz and Blues event debuting in November.
“The Corey Ave Sunday Market started in October 2007,” Tampa Bay Markets’ onsite manager Susan Schiber told Paradise News. “This market supports 50 to 80 vendors who sell a variety of locally produced and homemade produce, plants, take home foods, ready to eat lunch bites, hand crafts, eco-friendly and fair-trade products and more. We’ve operated the market since 2014 and I joined the company in 2012, with a strong background in event coordination.
“Growth anywhere is painful. For two years at a Tampa village we faced similar circumstances. What’s really nice now is that Blind Pass is closed with no traffic down the center anymore. CABA is doing a good job of bringing continued recognition to this area and we would like to see a nearby public garage and public restrooms in the future.
“With Blind Pass closed for construction, the market holds about 82 vendors now, and we hope to return to 100 plus when all local streets and alleys and open. We talk to visitors all the time and we’re coping with what’s going on, and just hope the entire job is done the right way. We’re also working with American Craft Endeavors setting up food stands at three of the Arts & Craft Fairs in the 200 block of Corey.”
American Craft Endeavors has been in the event business for more than 35 years, operating the four annual Arts & Crafts Shows – this year Jan. 11-12, April 18-19, June 6-7, and Dec. 5-6. Helayne Stillings is SPB show director and a VP of the firm, based in Jupiter. She told Paradise NEWS, “We’ve operated the April show about 17 years and the other three about 20 years. We typically get from 100 to 150 vendors depending on the event.
“While parking is obviously a big problem, our people will always find a place for their car. We have a staff of six in our Jupiter HQ and five on site here in SPB as well as a cleanup crew. For more information on all our shows, go online to www.artfestivals.com.”
Festivals Draw More Visitors
The more recent annual festivals have been organized by Paragon Festivals based in Lakewood Ranch. The firm’s Ron Mellott told Paradise News, “The St. Pete Beach Seafood & Music Festival, which ran this past Jan. 31-Feb. 2, began in 2018. The Crab & Music Festival will premiere March 27-29 and an exciting new Jazz & Blues Festival is being planned for this November.
“Some of Florida’s top musical groups will perform at the March event. Included Friday are North Jetty Allstars (classic & yacht rock, bluegrass, blues), Twinkle & Rock Soul Radio (soul, rock) and Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty Tribute Band). Saturday performances are by Ari & the Alibis (funk, jazz, samba), West Coast Steel Pan Band (jazz, Caribbean), The Verge (classic rock 70’s to present) and Fleetwood Max (Fleetwood Mac Tribute Band). On Sunday enjoy Bryan Spainhower (Musica Eclectica: fusion of flamenco, jazz, rock & country), JP Soars & The Red Hots (soul, blues) and The Black Honkeys (rock, soul).”
Added Paragon’s Christine Baer, “Visitors can choose entrees including crab and other seafood items, meat and vegetarian dishes, all cooked fresh onsite. Also available are a diversity of side dishes, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and some scrumptious desserts. Food vendors include Banana Cabana (beverage stand), Dawg House Concessions (mac and cheese bar), Florida’s Fine Foods, G Bailey’s Concessions, Hammerheads & RN Concessions (assorted fresh seafoods), Gran Arepa (corn tortillas with fillings), J&J BBQ (barbeque), J&S Pineapple Express (assorted healthy drinks), Main Street Empanadas (local), Katie’s Concessions (desserts), Mobstah Lobstah (assorted lobster dishes), and Wicked Maine Lobster (different style lobster rolls).”
History of Corey Avenue
In 1936, the area between the present site of the Beach Theater and the end of the Corey Causeway was mangrove swamp. It occurred to The Upham Company, sales agents for International Realty Associates and First National Bank of Tampa, that an attractive approach to the beaches as well as a desirable business section could be developed there.
Upham representatives attempted to get the property owners to fill in the swamp and pave the road, believing this would not only be profitable in itself, but also would enhance the value of surrounding lots. Both owners turned down the proposition, but, convinced of the project’s merit, The Upham Company decided to do it for their own account. Subsequently, they bought the lots fronting what is now Corey Avenue, filled the swamp, and paved the street.
The opening of Corey Avenue and its official dedication took place on Feb. 13, 1937, with a mass celebration and motorcade. Speeches were made by Mayor Smith of St. Petersburg, Mayor Deacon of Pass-a-Grille, heads of both the Gulf Beach and St. Petersburg Chambers of Commerce, Mrs. Jack Corey for whose husband the causeway is named and Mrs. William L. Edison, daughter-in-law of the famous inventor.
The next step was to get stores established. The first building was constructed by The Upham Company on the northeast corner of Corey Avenue and Blind Pass Road. It was finished in May 1937 and immediately occupied – today by Swigwam Beach Bar, London Hairdressers, Owen Sweet Jewelry Design and Shaded Keg Pub. Soon, Corey Avenue was a bustling street that housed clothing and sundries, shoes and accessories, a drug store, hardware store, a theatre, restaurants and bars, and even a fruit company.
Although the tenant businesses have changed many times over the years, Corey Avenue was, and still remains, the heart of downtown St. Pete Beach, and offers visitors a delightful mix of unique boutiques and galleries, clothing and accessories, gifts and home furnishings, restaurants and entertainment – everything one would hope to find!
The story of Corey Avenue continues – with a bright future based on future development at both waterfronts ends and beyond. PN
[Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Yvonne Marcus, CABA; Susan Schiber, Tampa Bay Markets; Helayne Stillings, American Craft Endeavors; Ron Mellott and Christine Baer, Paragon Festivals; SPB Mayor Alan Johnson and City Manager Alex Rey, for the excellent comments and insight.]
[Steve Traiman is President of Creative Copy by Steve Traiman, St. Pete Beach, providing business writing services at traimancreativecopy@gmail.com or by phone to 727-363-7531.]