People We Like — Rob DePiazza

By Ant Perrucci

Rob DePiazza is not a happy camper.

The president of Screen Arts (228 W. King St.) has had to mothball art shows at his business.

He’s got construction he has dubbed, “East Beirut, circa 1983” in front of his studio. He’s not pleased.

Screen Arts is in the printing business, mostly “in the commercial side of things,” DePiazza said. But in the West King scene, Screen Arts is known for the Gallery, a series of bi-monthly art shows.

“I just felt that it wasn’t fair to the artists,” DePiazza said. “Our job is to exhibit and promote, and we just can’t do that [because of the construction].”

The ongoing construction taking place on West King – which began in March, and is scheduled to for completion in early 2010 – has gone from being a simple inconvenience for merchants and residents west of U.S. 1 to sheer torture.

“It’s insanely slow,” DePiazza fumed. “Some days [workers] don’t show up, most days there’s only three or four of them. I don’t know why the county’s so lenient.”

The construction, which has made journeying to West King Street a pain at the best of times, effectively gives residents a reason to avoid the area at all costs. DePiazza said that he’s shut down the Gallery at Screen Arts because of it.

There used to be a scene on West King, he said, but the construction has given people a reason to stay away.

“It’s frustrating,” DePiazza said. “This would never be tolerated in Ponte Vedra [or] downtown.”

“I just don’t think we’re given any consideration,” DePiazza said. Concerns “haven’t fallen on deaf ears, they’ve been responded to negatively.”

“It’s absurd.”