Keep St. Pete Special Program - Looking Back & Looking Forward

Take a step back to the 1970's & '80's...downtown St. Pete was very different and described as "God's waiting room"! In 1986 city council approved of Bay  Plaza as the "master developer" to remake downtown. Ten years later the Bay Plaza agreement was terminated. The scorecard was not pretty with several downtown blocks demolished and one parking garage with a vacant department store space having been built. Was Bay Plaza a failure or did they set the stage for the 'Burg's ultimate renaissance? What are the lessons to be learned from the Bay Plaza experience as downtown growth leaps ahead and St. Pete tries to keep itself special?  Come out to hear the fascinating comments of local historian extraordinair Ray Arsenault, architect Tim Clemmons and former Bay Plaza Vice-President Michael Van Butstel.