Polish Club seeks Landmark Designation on its 70th Anniversary

This Thursday, the St Petersburg City Council has the chance to grant Landmark Designation to the Polish American Society’s headquarters. The organization, and the Community Planning and Preservation Commission (CPPC) have both unanimously approved the application, sending it now to the Council for final approval.

The club has been a fixture in the Salt Creek area, just south of downtown, since 1956, offering Poles and many others a way to connect with Polish traditions, including dance, cuisine and art.

Landmark Designation puts the club on the St Pete registry of historic places, giving an official nod to the importance of one of the few remaining ethnic clubs in the city, which were once plentiful.

Designed by noted architect J.H. Messineo, the building has a “floating” dance floor, surrounded by original artwork celebrating the traditional dance costumes of the Polish provinces.

The Polish American Society was just one of many ethnic heritage societies that fulfilled a desire to keep traditions alive that were left behind when St Pete was chosen as a new home.

According to club legend, it was a parking ticket that sparked the creation of the Society. Mr. and Mrs. Nawojski found a parking ticket on the windshield of their car signed by a police officer named Edward Mogelnicki. Wanting to connect with another Pole, they contacted the officer, who welcomed their initiative. Soon they were mailing invitations to fifty Polish sounding names in the phone book and placing advertisements for an organizing event in the St. Petersburg Times and Evening Independent.

The organizing event took place at the Million Dollar Pier on January 9, 1951. An overwhelming 120 Polish Americans answered the invitation and attended the event. All were in favor of organizing as the Polish American Society of St Pete. As membership grew, a building fund was established, and in 1956, construction began on the clubhouse at Beach Drive and 14th Avenue South. The building still stands today, essentially the same as it was 65 years ago.

A member since 2015, there are two encounters at the club especially memorable to me.

The first was, after learning a bit of polka and enjoying a dinner of pierogies and kielbasa, sitting next to an older fellow with a thick Polish accent. I asked why he came to the club, and he replied it was like coming home, finding camaraderie with Poles who could understand his story. His story? Well, after the war, in a fragmented Poland, he was shipped off to Siberia for a long period, enduring the harshest of conditions. Later, finding his way to the United States, St. Petersburg, and finally to the Polish American Society. His touching story is one of many shared at the club, keeping this heritage alive.

The second story was a conversation I had with the club’s president, Eugene Poplawski. I told him I was a bit surprised that I didn’t hear more Polish being spoken at club events. He replied, “Well, you know, it was never intended to be the ‘Polish Society’ — we called it the Polish American Society — because it was established by immigrants proud to have become Americans, yet wanting to retain their cultural heritage.” Meetings are begun with a pledge of allegiance to the flag; events often culminate with the singing of a patriotic American song.

The club wants to be a resource to our community for years to come, keeping alive the rich stories and cultural traditions that have helped make our city the diverse place it is today.

Thank you, City of St. Petersburg, for having the foresight to create this Landmark Designation process, so that we can retain our city’s precious ethnic institutions. Thank you, Emily Elwyn and Preserve the ‘Burg, for your generous guidance as the club prepared this application.

Our Council will vote on the matter at this Thursday’s meeting.