Our friends at the Tampa Bay Business Journal picked up on our petition to clean up the Crislip Arcade. This could be the nudge we need to make some progress!
Businesses seeking action at Crislip Arcade on Central
The fate of the historic Crislip Arcade, a 1920s-style mall on Central Avenue, has been undetermined for years, and the property has fallen into disarray.
Now some nearby businesses are banding together to take action.
“We wanted to be part of the downtown revitalization, but nothing’s really been done “with Crislip,” said Ginger Reichl, president of Pinstripe Marketing. “We kept hoping something would come through.”
Reichl moved her company to Central Avenue in December 2007 but soon found that Crislip, located at 641 Central Ave., had been abandoned and boarded up and had become an eyesore. She met with representatives from the St. Petersburg Preservation Society about Crislip, and they decided to create an online petition calling for exterior beautification of the property.
Reichl says she is willing to organize a volunteer effort to get the job done. All she needs is the permission of Tom Gaffney, Crislip’s owner.”
