Downtown St. Petersburg is renowned for its walkability, and Mirror Lake in its midst is a somewhat underutilized gem. Arguably the center of city life in the booming 1920s, the lake area is now described as “a quiet retreat within downtown” by City Council member Gina Driscoll.
It takes just 20 minutes to stroll around the spring-fed former reservoir just north of First Avenue N and west of Fifth Street, past parkland, aquatic birds, and iconic historic structures. There are no stores or restaurants on the lake and no buildings taller than six stories or less than 20 years old.
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory.
Activity has picked up recently, along with varying visions for the area’s future. “To me, the story here is the return to glory of a district long neglected,” says Jason Jensen, principal of an architectural firm that is expanding its offices on the lake.
Historically Speaking
The Mirror Lake Library on Fifth Street is a good starting point. The Beaux-Arts style Carnegie library was built in 1915 and later added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Heading counterclockwise on Mirror Lake Drive past one of several lakeside parking lots, the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, built in 1924, is next. With 5,000 members, It became the world’s largest shuffleboard club by 1944. Attendance later fell but has rebounded to 1,200, with free Friday nights open to the public. The city has a three-year plan with the University of South Florida to have architecture students transform the club’s lakeside “Cue House.”
Next along the lake are three large 1920s-era contributing structures of the Downtown Historic District.
The Mission-style old St. Petersburg High School (now the 70-unit 701 Mirror Lake Condominiums) was in session from 1919-26 and later an adult education center before conversion to condominiums in 1991.
The Mediterranean Revival-style Mirror Lake Christian Church next door opened in 1926 with a 1,000-seat sanctuary. It later became the Mirror Lake Lyceum and now is the Bridgepoint Church, with the Lyceum continuing as an active venue.
The old junior high school operated from 1924 to 1931, when it became the city’s vocational and technical school. The Tomlinson Adult Learning Center now has 680 enrolled adult students.
Along the western lakefront, the most prominent buildings are the Weidner Law and Wannemacher Jensen Architects (WJA) offices. Weidner Law occupies a 1920s house built by Cade Allen, developer of the Allendale neighborhood. WJA will break ground soon on a 34,000 square-foot adjacent mixed-use building to include the first new office space built in St. Petersburg in almost 15 years as well as condominiums and a coffee shop to become the only retail site on the lake.
The next large building, the Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg (UUSP), has operated continuously since the Spanish Colonial Revival-style structure was completed in 1930. UUSP’s membership peaked at more than 500 before World War II and declined to about 65 five years ago but since has rebounded to 170. In addition to Sunday service and education, UUSP is active with discussions, covenant meetings, and Friday afternoon meals for mostly homeless people, averaging 80 per week.
The south and eastern sides of the lake are dominated by a county human services center, the St. Petersburg Judicial Building (designed by Glenn Johnson, architect of St. Petersburg’s 1950s era “bird cage” homes), and the Sebring state office building.
The Lake’s Future
A $69 million, 21-story, 270-apartment tower, not yet named, is planned to replace several century-old, relatively affordable, rental apartment buildings across Fifth Street from the library. It has been approved by the City Council and Development Review Commission although it is opposed by historic preservation group Preserve the Burg (PTB), which supports the creation of a Mirror Lake Historic District to encourage sustaining historic buildings around the lake.
“Smaller-scale historic buildings help vitality in a lower-intensity urban environment, with their recognizable scale and special feel,” PTB board member Peter Belmont says. “The city has embraced the impact of the arts and should value historic preservation as well.”
Lawyer and Downtown Neighborhood Association board member Matt Weidner, whose office is in the area, sees Mirror Lake as the next preservation vs. development battleground. “Property owners’ development options should not be restricted,” he says. “The city also needs to do more to help make its buildings more attractive and to promote activities by the lake.”
Says Barbara Riddle-Dvorak, a Mirror Lake condominium resident and Tomlinson career counselor: “I would like to see more activity including festivities with food trucks around the lovely lake.”
WJA’s Jensen advocates creation of a high-potential Mirror Lake District including nearby neighborhoods: “Mirror Lake needs to fill in parking lots with sensitive mixed-use development that honors the past but builds a district for the future,” he says.
City Council member Driscoll advocates preserving the historic buildings right along the lake and says more can be done to promote area events: “I see its highest use as a locale for street fairs and celebrations, similar to the scene around Orlando’s larger Lake Eola, and the city can help with that.”
We will stay tuned.
