St. Petersburg to comply with state order to remove Pride, Black history street art
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The Progress Pride flag pavement art at Central Avenue and 25th Street in St. Petersburg. Photo: Courtesy of Winston Bartlett
St. Petersburg will comply with a state directive to remove the city's street art, Mayor Ken Welch announced Friday.
Why it matters: Among the five installations set for removal are the Progress Pride flag on Central Avenue and the Black History Matters mural outside the Woodson African American Museum of Florida.
- The installations serve as visible signs of inclusion for LGBTQ+ residents and people of color, advocates say.
Catch up quick: City transportation and parking management director Evan Mory on Wednesday asked state transportation officials to exempt five murals across the city, including the Pride and Black history installations.
- Mory's request came a day before state officials, without notice and in the middle of the night, removed a rainbow crosswalk outside Pulse, the former LGBTQ+ nightclub in Orlando that's now a memorial to the 49 patrons shot and killed there in 2016.
The latest: On Friday, Florida Department of Transportation District 7 secretary Justin Hall informed Mory that city officials had until Sept. 4 to remove the artwork, according to a letter shared with Axios.
- He threatened to withhold state funding from the city if leaders didn't comply.
- "We understand that the receipt of this letter constitutes denial of" the exemption request, Mory wrote in response.
- The city made the call to move forward with removal "after consultation with the City Attorney's office, and considering the implications of keeping the street art murals in question," Welch said.
What they're saying: "The City remains committed to working with our community to find lawful ways to celebrate and express our values in the public realm," Welch said Friday in a statement.
- "While these specific art murals will be removed, the spirit of what makes St. Pete a special place can't be suppressed by legislative fiat, and we will find meaningful ways to express our shared values."
- The mural outside the Woodson "means everything to us," executive director Terri Lipsey Scott told Axios on Friday.
Yes, but: Removing it won't deter the Woodson from its mission of preserving Black history, she said.
- "To be clear, our history is not written in chalk or subject to erasure," she said, adding that she understands the city's position facing the threat of funding cuts.
The big picture: Along with the Progress Pride flag and the Black history street art, three more installations are set for removal:
- A multi-colored prism at Central Avenue and Fifth Street.
- A University of South Florida-themed crosswalk on the institution's St. Petersburg campus at Sixth Avenue South and Second Street South.
- An intersection painted in shades of red, orange and yellow at 11th Avenue South and 46th Street South.
Between the lines: State and federal transportation officials said in their directives that such artwork makes roads less safe.
- However, they have yet to surface data backing up the claim, and the existing data states the opposite.
What's next: FDOT will remove the murals, and, per Hall's letter, the city will have to reimburse the state agency for the cost.
- St. Pete officials don't yet have a cost estimate or an expected timeline for removal, city spokesperson Alizza Punzalan-Randle told Axios on Friday.
St. Pete Pride board president Byron Green-Calisch added that this puts the city in a position "where active action can occur."
- "How are we going to be as inclusive as a city as we say that we are? What will be the new visual signs of inclusion? ... This is a time of action and support."