On November 18, 1952, an estimated 50,000 people flooded into St. Pete’s newest “shopping center” at 34th Street and Central Avenue. With 2,500 parking spaces and a variety of stores, Central Plaza was the pinnacle of modern convenience. It also seemed to close the extended debate regarding the wisdom and feasibility of elevating commerce over nature. Wild Country, 1848-1912 In 1848, a local survey identified a “prairie lake” extending from current-day Fifth Avenue N to Fifth Avenue S between 31st and 34th streets. For decades, this “wild country” went relatively unbothered by the handful of early settlers. By the 1890s, St. Pete had more than 300 people. It also boasted sidewalks, electric street lights, and its first telephone. Goose Pond, as the locals called it, remained usable. The new century ushered in new ambitions, including plans for the marshy confines of Goose Pond. By 1905, a plant nursery had been established at Central and 34th Street. Soon afterward, H. Walter Fuller purchased 160 acres of the “richest muck land” in Goose Pond with hopes of reaping profit. In 1910, the St. Petersburg Times took note, declaring that the once-worthless marshes “are now in all stages of change.” That may have been an overstatement. Some money was being made from the muck, but it was still largely untamed. The vast majority of St. Pete’s nearly 7,000 residents stayed clear of it.
Tampa Bay to Boca Ciega Bay, 1912-1916
Determined to profit from this mostly undeveloped land, developers proposed extending Central Avenue to connect Tampa Bay to Boca Ciega Bay. On March 12, 1912, the Times published the first advertisements peddling “the best property ever offered” along this proposed “new car line and bay to bay highway,” which was to be “near the logical business Centre of the city.” The promise of a paved Central Avenue Boulevard and a modern trolley line extending straight through Goose Pond seemed so far fetched that it was “considered a joke” by many. It was no joke. The land was cleared, bridges were built, fill was hauled in, and when engineers wanted to go around the “3 to 4 mile wide” Goose Pond, the developers refused to budge. They would pay the money necessary to create the land needed to construct the promised straight path from bay to bay. Three years after those first advertisements, Central Avenue was paved with vitrified brick from Ninth Street to 49th, with plans to pave the remaining blocks to Boca Ciega Bay by the end of the year. The March 24, 1915, Times offered an artist’s rendering of the soon-to-be-completed nearly 8-mile-long brick-paved Central Avenue and adjacent trolley line. This illustration included the numerous lots available for purchase. The developers had fulfilled their promise. Now, it was time for West Central development to kick into high gear.
Floods, Fires, Gardens, Gators, and Commerce, 1916-1950
Over the next 35 years, Goose Pond continued to complicate those development plans. Dredging and filling had made Central Avenue possible, but the surrounding Goose Pond area was still muck and intermittent ponds. Central Avenue flooded during the rainy season and caught fire when dry. Nonetheless, developers aggressively marketed the available lots, claiming they contained both “the richest muck land in Florida” and “one high end” suitable for building. The latter claim seemed dubious when summer flooding often stopped Central Avenue traffic with water “deep enough to reach the floorings of automobiles.” What’s more, although natural habitats had been disrupted by construction, some pesky Florida wildlife proved resistant. Alligators were a semi-regular menace, and Goose Pond was the perfect incubator for hordes of mosquitoes. Homeowners didn’t rush to purchase the available building lots, but several enterprising locals, including a handful of Japanese families, took advantage of the rich land to grow produce and flowers for sale. Other attempts at commerce on the marsh edges proved more short-lived, including the production of corn mash and whiskey during Prohibition and the Goose Pond Tavern, an art loft and tea room, at 35th Street and Central.
Big Plans, 1916-1952
Throughout, big plans rose and fell with regularity. Soon after Central Avenue’s completion, a decades-long “beautification” push began, calling for the city to purchase Goose Pond for a park. Instead, in 1927, the city offered a short-lived proposal for an airport, civic center, and city hall on the site. Ten years later, a developer purchased 23 acres between 31st and 34th streets along Central Avenue, with plans for a full-service shopping center surrounded by sunken gardens, miniature lakes, and a wildlife sanctuary. Like the other big ideas before it, lack of funds meant the project failed to materialize. Produce remained Goose Pond’s chief output for another decade. Prosperity after World War II and the growing popularity of the automobile ultimately brought change. In 1949, the ongoing removal of trolley lines reached the Goose Pond blocks, and the plan for U.S. Highway 19 along 34th Street was revealed. Soon after, the construction of a new shopping center on the Goose Pond site was announced. Unlike earlier plans, however, no gardens or wildlife sanctuaries were included. Instead, it would have abundant parking. Just over a year after breaking ground, Central Plaza opened to great fanfare. As the song says, “They paved paradise to put up a parking lot.” Seventy years later, the wisdom of that choice is still debatable.
Sources available on request and include previous research by Jon Wilson.
