ST. PETERSBURG

Once a spot for croquet and presidential speeches, Williams Park has lost its luster.

It's a regular hangout for Charlie White, 55, who sat on a park bench one morning, a "buck-and-a-quarter" Styrofoam cup of coffee in one hand and a Remington cigar in the other. When it rains, he takes cover under the steps of the park's award-winning band shell.

Elaine Savastano, 56, is also homeless. She sat alone, wearing a winter coat on a humid day. She said she's been living in the park for two weeks.

Around them, pockets of other homeless people hugged the park's retaining walls or huddled in surrounding bus shelters. A police report for the past few months catalogs a grim play-by-play for the address: drugs, battery, trespassing, disorderly intoxication, armed robbery, brawls and suicidal threats among them.

Organizers of a recent "Take Back Williams Park" event say it's "wasted as a downtown city asset."

Parks and recreation director Michael Jefferis wants to change that. He envisions students from St. Petersburg College across the street going to the park to toss Frisbees, grab a bite from a food truck or even attend a class. To attract students, the city put in markers for a walking trail and created concrete paths near the band shell to accommodate food trucks.

"Mayor (Rick) Kriseman has really impressed on us the importance of programming in Williams Park," Jefferis said. "It's one of his initiatives to see that park utilized in the way it was designed to be used."

The college has taken the city up on its offer to embrace Williams Park.

"The students have made a commitment to use it at least once a semester," said Frank Jurkovic, student life and leadership coordinator for the college's downtown and Midtown centers. "Because it really is a nice park."

He added that being able to use Williams Park is "a huge advantage" to the urban campus, which expects about 3,000 students in the fall.

"We don't have any outdoor space," Jurkovic said.

"It definitely gives us more space to work with," said Alexis Clavizzao, student government president for the downtown center. Students recently have held events with food trucks, live music and games in the park.

Clavizzao, 23, who lives downtown and has a 2-year-old son, would like to add Williams Park as a destination for her family outings.

"We go to places like North Shore and Albert Whitted, but it really would be nice to have a place where you could have a picnic in the heart of the city," she said.

Other plans also are in the works that could make the park more welcoming. The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority is working with the city staff to change the current system that requires 21 routes to converge there. The numerous bus shelters have been blamed for adding to the park's problems.

A new program at the park this summer will offer art classes to the homeless. It's the idea of George Bolden, board president for Celebrate Outreach, an advocacy group for the homeless, and artist Catherine Weaver, who owns Uniquely Original Art Studio in Midtown.

They chose Williams Park because "that's traditionally where homeless adults have congregated," Bolden said. "But we also chose the park because we thought it would be a good opportunity to show that people experiencing homelessness can share the park in positive ways. We don't have to drive the homeless out. We can engage them in positive experiences."

What they are doing might come close to what Wayne Atherholt, the city's director of cultural affairs, has in mind.

"Williams Park needs to be cleaned up, everybody knows that," he said. "In my opinion, the best way is to fill it with events and people who are there for arts and cultural events."

He mentioned the resurgence of Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan as an example of what can happen.

"Now it is a tourist destination. Williams Park has the potential to be a tourist destination. It very well could be our Bryant Park," Atherholt said.

In fact, Williams Park has known its share of fame. Named after John Constantine Williams, one of city's founders, it became the city's town square, said Will Michaels in his book, The Making of St. Petersburg. People gathered to celebrate the end of World War I there. In the 1960s, it hosted love-ins. Presidents and vice presidents spoke there.

"It's historically significant," Jefferis said. "It's part of our fabric. It's who we are as a city."

Contact Waveney Ann Moore at wmoore@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2283. Follow @wmooretimes.