ST. PETERSBURG - It was like watching a bad movie. Night after night, residents just north of downtown saw prostitutes and their customers meeting in the shadows.
Their complaints to police led to some prostitution arrests in the area between Fourth and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. streets and Fifth and 12th avenues N, but nothing really changed.
But since March, for at least one night a month, Historic Uptown neighbors have flipped the script and turned Round Lake Park into an outdoor movie theater.
James and Kristy Light built a plywood screen and painted it white. James' employer, Stram Electronics, loaned the group the DVD equipment to project movies. Funding from St. Anthony's Hospital and Pinellas Heritage covered the $200 rentals for second-run movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion.
The first two showings, which are open to the public, drew families camped out on blankets and lawn chairs but no ladies of the evening, said Kristy Light, a past president of Historic Uptown Neighborhoods. "They stay away from big crowds, which is nice."
The neighborhood will screen Spiderman at 8:30 p.m. Saturday on the west side of Round Lake Park, at Fifth Street and Seventh Avenue N. Admission (and popcorn) are free. Other refreshments are served at a cost.
The neighborhood association spent much of its Wednesday meeting at the Sunshine Center talking with police Sgt. Tim Montanari and other officers about crime. From April 26 to May 26, the neighborhood drew six calls for prostitution, 14 for drug law violations, two reports of a person being shot, and 36 calls for "trouble with individual," a term that covers anything from domestic disturbance to erratic behavior, according to police spokesman Bill Proffitt.
Neighbors also gnashed teeth about whether and how to curb the spread of people using bicycles to peddle illegal drugs, particularly down Seventh Avenue N and Crescent Lake Drive.
"I don't know what we can do about it," Uptown president Tim Burns said. Neighbors ended their discussion by voting to ask police to enforce bicycle laws.
The association recognized Ray Viera as its Good Neighbor of the Month for his restoration of the 1898 William Rawls house, at 734 Grove St. Viera received gift packages from local merchants and the right to plant a "good neighbor" sign in his front yard.
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Add Euclid Heights to the list of neighborhoods reducing a 30-mph speed limit to 25. Residents voted for the change in April and have only to formally notify neighborhood transportation manager Michael Frederick to make it official.
The city sets aside funds each year to accommodate 25 mph requests. Once that money is gone, installation stops until Oct. 1, Frederick said.
