Urban management guru guides Williams Park’s evolution

Downtown St. Petersburg’s Williams Park is in store for long-overdue revitalization, and the group leading those efforts has enlisted the help of a renowned urban redevelopment expert. 

Dan Biederman received national acclaim in the early 1990s for transforming one of New York City’s seediest parks into a celebrated amenity. Time magazine called his renovation of Bryant Park a “small miracle.”

The public space management consultant has recently set his sights on Williams Park. Biederman is familiar with the area and believes it “is clear” that St. Petersburg is heading “in a great direction.” 

“I love to go into a situation where you don’t have to raise massive amounts of capital to redo fundamental design flaws,” Biederman told the Catalyst. “I never thought the problem with Bryant Park was the design, and I would say the same thing for Williams Park.” 

A reborn Williams Park Partnership recently received $800,000 in state funding to increase activity, safety and the vibrancy of St. Petersburg’s first designated green space. The St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership believed Biederman’s expertise could propel the project. 

Biederman said he didn’t “agree” to sign a contract that began Oct. 1. “It was my honor.”

That feeling is mutual. CEO Jason Mathis called Biederman a “legend in urban management and placemaking,” and one of the “world’s foremost experts in successful city parks.” 

Biederman first learned about St. Petersburg when former Mayor Rick Baker made a speech in New York “many years ago.” Biederman, who had visited Tampa, made a point to explore the Sunshine City the next time he was in the area. 

Mathis later invited Biederman to speak at the downtown partnership’s 2023 Development Summit. “It was a very intelligent audience,” Biederman said.

The partnership then met with Biderman on his home turf. He led a group from St. Petersburg on a tour of Bryant Park in April. 

The 9.6-acre park in Midtown Manhattan had suffered a severe, decades-long decline by the time Biederman co-founded the nonprofit Bryant Park Corporation (BPC) in 1980. His organization began an extensive process by enhancing security and sanitation. 

In 1987, the City of New York signed a 15-year agreement with BPC that gave the group sole responsibility for the park’s management, programming and improvements. Adding and improving entrances, lighting and interior paths – core components of the Williams Park project – were among the first steps. 

“When we first started at Bryant Park, there were no women in it, because it was so violent that you wouldn’t dream of it,” Biederman said. “And over a steady progression, 38 years, we’ve turned it into a space that’s primarily female.” 

The St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership toured Bryant Park in April.

Many of those efforts align with potential improvements to Williams Park. BPC restored Bryant Park’s monuments, renovated restrooms, built two restaurant pavilions and implemented four food kiosks. It now features seasonal attractions, including a winter village with an ice skating rink. 

The New York Times called the park’s reopening in 1992 a “triumph by many.” Biederman has since launched Biederman Redevelopment Ventures (BRV), which helps other organizations create transformative public spaces. 

“We’re not perfect, but we’re really safe,” he said. “And we’ve done that in about five or 10 other places in the country.” 

Biederman toured Williams Park with the downtown partnership Oct. 15. He said St. Petersburg’s modernization is astonishing, and “a lot of the public spaces that have been fixed already are great.” 

The partnership intentionally held the tour at night, and many stakeholders told Biederman that the park “doesn’t feel safe.” While he said there was “nothing that scary while I was there,” he understands why some people, particularly women, would be nervous.

Biederman said St. Petersburg’s weather will support year-round programming. He also believes that the city’s attractiveness to residents, visitors and retirees, who can populate the park on weekdays, provides an advantage. 

“Williams Park is not Bryant Park, and St. Pete is not Midtown Manhattan,” Mathis said. “But we know there are lessons we can apply to come up with uniquely St. Pete solutions to help Williams Park regain its place as one of the city’s greatest assets.” 

While it is still early in the process, Biederman and his Jacksonville-based project manager agree that the park needs hard surfaces to host pop-up, public activities. He also wants to place items along the exterior sidewalk to entice people to enter the park and connect it to interior pathways.

Biederman is also a proponent of securing private funding. He called new Tampa Bay Rays CEO Ken Babby, whom he met while working in Ohio, a “perfect example of talented people” who can help propel a park project. 

Mathis also noted that Biederman advocates for private park management. “But we think a hybrid, public-private approach, much like the Waterfront Parks Foundation, is the right way forward for this historic green space in our beloved community.” 

Homeless residents often congregate in Williams Park. Photo by Mark Parker.