April marks the final spring tours conducted by the St. Petersburg Preservation Society.

ST. PETERSBURG – St. Petersburg Preservation’s spring 2017 Saturday morning walking tour season wraps up this month with tours offered on April 15, 22, and 29. Tours are free to SPP members and just $10 for non-members. Reservations are recommended but not necessary and can be made by going to the SPP webpage at stpetepreservation.org. Tours last about two hours. Upcoming tours include:

Saturday (April 15) – Downtown Tour with a Literary Twist – Tour starts at 10 a.m. from the downtown Mirror Lake Carnegie Library, 280 5^th St. N, which celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2015. St. Petersburg Preservation and Keep St. Pete Lit are partnering to offer this fun tweak to SPP’s traditional downtown walking tour, a historic tour with a literary twist! The tour will show off the special architecture found around Mirror Lake, including Lang’s Bungalow Court, the city’s hidden mini-neighborhood gem! Lang’s Bungalow Court is one of four locally designated historic districts. During the tour, local writers will offer inspiration as they offer short readings from their work.

Saturday (April 15) – Historic Gulfport – Tour starts at 3 p.m. from the Gulfport Historical Museum, 5301 28^th Ave. S, Gulfport, FL.The Gulfport tour offers a stroll in the “suburbs” of funky and artsy Gulfport. Tour participants will get a look at this former fishing village on Boca Ciega Bay and its collection of historic commercial and residential structures, including the National Register listed Gulfport Casino. With the introduction of the streetcar connecting it to St. Pete, Gulfport began to grow and to attract tourists in the 1920’s. The tour will be led by Cathy Salustri, a Gulfport local, author and the arts & entertainment editor for Creative Loafing.

April 22 – Westward Ho to Historic Kenwood Walking Tour – Tour starts at 10 a.m. from the Craftsman House, 2955 Central Ave., the airplane bungalow styled 1918 model home for the neighborhood. This popular tour, led by neighborhood residents excited to show-off their neighborhood, offers a chance for participants to enjoy the feel and character of Historic Kenwood. Kenwood is one of the country’s premier bungalow neighborhoods and has been designated as a National Register historic district and an artist enclave district, the only neighborhood in St. Petersburg with both designations. These designations help to recognize the neighborhood’s special character and allows artists to create art from home studios. The tour includes a stop inside one of the neighborhood’s restored bungalows.

April 29 – Historic Old Northeast Walking Tour – Tour starts at 10 a.m. from Kahwa Coffee, 475 2^nd St. N SPP’s final Saturday tour for the spring 2017 walking tour season will offer a leisurely loop stroll thru a small piece of the shady historic old northeast neighborhood between 5th & 11th Avenues NE. The area offers a variety of historic homes and building styles and is a part of one of the five National Register Historic Districts in the city. Midway in the tour, will be a special treat. a stop in a beautifully and recently renovated 1925 home.

Photo of Gulfport Casino courtesy of the city of Gulfport.

St. Petersburg Preservation | Historic Tour | Gulfport Casino | Kenwood | Mirror Lake | Tampa Bay News | TB Reporter

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