Historic Preservation (HP) is a primary contributing factor to the ongoing vitality and value of the neighborhood, and supporting historic preservation is one of the key objectives and activities of the neighborhood association.

This page and a few others provide resources and information about historic preservation and related projects in the neighborhood.

This page: Centennial Sundial

Other HP pages on this web site:
-> Researching Your Home History on the Historic Preservation page
-> Old Northeast Special Exhibit at St. Petersburg History Museum
-> Neighborhood Historic Landmarks
-> "Views from the Vinoy" - and photo page
-> Neighborhood Plan
-> Ask a Question form

Other links related to Historic Preservation also appear on the left side of this page. Please don't hesitate to submit a question about any of these topics, or to find out how you can become more involved in supporting these efforts.

Dedication of the Centennial Sundial:
Our Neighborhood’s Gift to the City

Although the morning dawned chilly and breezy, the sun shone brightly–and for those checking the time, shadows were cast on the new Centennial Sundial at Vista Point, located at the north end of the North Shore Park waterfront. The dedication occurred on Saturday morning, November 6^th  2010, as the kick-off event for the City’s Waterfront Parks Centennial Celebration.  (See video and picture links below for images of the ceremony.)

To honor the 100^th anniversary of St. Petersburg’s Waterfront Parks, Eric Higgs, noted sculptor and Historic Old Northeast neighbor, designed the human-scale sundial. It replaces a sundial formerly at that location. (See article below with more background information about the project.)

The massive sandstone slabs came from Arkansas by way of Seattle and reflect the movement of the water on the flats in the bay. The sundial markers are ancient volcanic balsalt from the Pacific Northwest.  Eric’s monumental sculptures have been installed and works exhibited around the world, from France to Japan, from California to Florida, including large installations in the Tampa Bay area. Eric donated his design time for the project, and accent lighting for the sculpture was provided by LumaStream LLC, a solid-state lighting manufacturer based in St. Petersburg and Eric’s latest venture in green technology.

North Shore Elementary School students created artwork for the occasion and were ready to store it in a time capsule to be opened after 100 years. They wore their Centennial T-shirts and were guided by multi-cultural arts teacher Deena Szakacs.  A large crowd, many of whom had watched the progress of construction, waited with anticipation for the ribbon cutting ceremony of the City’s newest public art.

Peter Belmont, chair of the Centennial Committee, emceed the ceremony and gave a brief history of the waterfront parks. Eric talked about his inspiration for the design, and HONNA Board member Robin Reed, whose research and tireless efforts were the impetus for the project, spoke to the tradition of stewardship of the parks. 

Participating in the ceremony were Mayor Bill Foster, who noted that our waterfront park system is the third largest in the nation, and Linda Seufert, representing the Parks Department, who was instrumental in getting the foundation work completed  in time for the dedication.  The foundation was the City’s contribution to the project. Jeff Danner represented the City Council.

As the program closed, Mayor Foster contributed a key to the City for the time capsule and shook hands with the student as their names were announced and they placed their artwork in the capsule. Eric’s three sons also contributed artwork.

Continuing the tradition of caring for the parks, contributions for the Centennial Sundial were received from Joe and Robin Reed; Eric and Meg Higgs; the Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association; Old Northeast Garden Club and individual members Pat Aitken, Julie Feeley, Edy Finefrock, Jeanne Houlton, Jean Hunter, Carol Kline, Cathy Leonard, Wendy Mansfield, Lynne Mormino, Linda Santoro; Booker Creek Preservation; St. Petersburg Preservation; Eden Isle Civic Association; Downtown Neighborhood Association; Peter Belmont; Nona Peebles; Leslie Curran; Nina Light; Ed and Melinda Anderson; Steve and Mary Alice Lange; Rick Carson; Paul and Barri Boudreaux; Lumastream, LLC; Sun Belt Rental; and anonymous. The foundation and plantings were provided by the City of St. Petersburg.

The next time you take a walk or jog along the waterfront, take a few minutes to “check the time” and reflect on how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place!

Video of the ceremony

The ceremony video is approximately 20 minutes long followed by video of other Waterfront Parks Centennial Celebration events that day

Streaming video from City web site.   Requires Windows Media Player or Silverlight.

Photos of the sundial construction and ceremony

There are 69 photos in the slideshow.  (Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher required.) Hover your mouse over the slideshow to pause it and see controls.  You also can view the album gallery and larger images on the Picasa Web Album

Centennial Sundial Sculpture

Published in June 2010 newsletter

Those of you who walk along the waterfront may have noticed an old concrete pad located near the intersection of North Shore Drive and Coffee Pot Boulevard.  After much research, it was discovered that this area was called “Vista Point” and until the 1970s, was the location of a sundial and planting beds. 

In the first half of the 20^th century, the ladies of the North Shore Garden Circle took great interest in the planning the landscape for North Shore Park, actually doing much of the planting themselves.  Over the years, they donated two different sundials for that location.  Today, the City's Parks Department has the original design plans for both sundial planting areas.

Armed with so much historical information, it seemed that an opportunity to restore a sundial to what is now a rather unattractive section of the park was presenting itself.  Sculptor Eric Higgs who lives near the site was contacted about creating a new sundial.  He discovered a somewhat unique and unusual idea - a ‘human’ sundial.  A semi-circle of markers, each with an hour denoted on it, is placed at ground level.  When a person stands facing North in front of the half circle, his or her shadow is cast upon the correct hour marker.  A design of this type has much to recommend it - it is educational, interactive, does not obstruct views of the water and would, of course, be appealing to children! 

You can view three renderings of the sundial design and its location in the park by scrolling through the embedded images below.

As St. Petersburg is celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the Waterfront Parks this year, it seems appropriate to propose restoring the concept of a sundial to the park in honor of the occasion.  It will remain for years to come a permanent memorial not only to the founders of the park, but to residents who have cared about and enjoyed our Waterfront Park.  Not surprisingly, the idea has received a very positive response.    

Eric estimates that the project will cost about $17,000.  He is donating his design work, and providing the materials at a discount.  HONNA has pledged $1,000, and will be working with the Centennial Committee to raise the remaining money. 

We hope that you will consider making a personal donation. 

To contribute to this exciting interactive and educational project, you can use PayPal to make an online donation on the website's Donations page.  

You will be continuing a long Old Northeast tradition of beautifying our "neighborhood" park!

For more information about Eric Higgs and the technology behind the sundial's possible LED lights, visit Eric Higgs, Sculptor, and LumaStream, LLC.