St. Pete reaches preliminary deal to buy CSX rail line running through downtown St. Pete
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A years-long effort to bring a key stretch of the CSX rail corridor in downtown St. Pete into public ownership, including the segment that cuts directly through Ferg’s Sports Bar & Grill, is finally moving forward.
According to an October 15th email from St. Pete Transportation and Parking Management Director Evan Mory, CSX Transportation has accepted a conditional offer from the City of St. Petersburg to acquire nearly a mile of rail right-of-way stretching from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street along 1st Avenue South to 5th Avenue North.
The city plans to create a trail linking the Historic Gas Plant District redevelopment and the Pinellas Trail up to 5th Avenue North, with the longer-term goal of extending it to Booker Creek Park in North Kenwood.
The purchase is expected to cost $7 million, with $1 million coming from the City of St. Pete, $4 million from Mark Ferguson of Ferg’s Sports Bar, and $2 million from Ellison Development.
The offer cannot move forward without City Council approval, which is expected within the next 30 days.
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A new family-owned restaurant serving pizzas, burgers, empanadas, and other Argentinian dishes is preparing to open in Pinellas Park.
Pizzardis will open at 7820 49th Street North, near England Brothers Park and the Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center. The building was previously home to Pinellas Park's Fresh Produce.
Owner Victoria Fecarotta said she and her husband expect to welcome their first customers during the last week of September.
For Fecarotta, the restaurant is rooted in memories of food bringing people together in Argentina, from long Sunday lunches to Friday nights spent sharing pizza with family.
She moved to the United States in 2001 and, after years in the restaurant business and previously owning a restaurant with her husband in Chicago, is ready to open a place of her own in Pinellas County.