Here you ll find the Florida Craftsmen Gallery, which displays ceramics, textiles, glassware and other arts and crafts collectibles. A short drive up the street is Haslam s, Florida s largest used book store. Architectural sightseers will want to visit the gleaming white terra cotta tower of the Snell Arcade. An award-winning restoration of the historic 1928 office building now lets you see the arcade s original ceramic tile floor and an Italian mosaic tile mural of Venice s Grand Canal. Other downtown landmark buildings include the city s unique 1916 open-air post office, the beloved 1925 Coliseum, which still functions as a dance hall, and the 1915 Carnegie Library, St. Petersburg s first library.
Downtown meets the waters of Tampa Bay in a green swath of statue-filled parks.
Standing proudly at their north end is the salmon-colored Renaissance Vinoy Resort. St. Petersburg s last great historic hotel, the Vinoy is a story of grandeur, decline and rebirth. When it opened on New Year s Eve in 1925, the Vinoy was the epitome of luxury. For the next thirty years the hotel reigned as the social center of St. Petersburg, until age and changing times finally caught up with the grand lady. For a look at more of St. Petersburg s historic architecture, follow Tampa Bay from the Vinoy to the North Shore neighborhood.