After failing to reach an agreement with certain stakeholders on its original plans for expansion, The Dali Museum has submitted a revised proposal to the city, which if approved, will appear as a referendum item on the November 2021 ballot. The entire project could have major impacts for the Center for the Arts Complex, including the Mahaffey Theater.

The Dali Museum’s new plan calls for the construction of a multi-level addition to the southwest side of the existing building that would include 40,000 square feet of expanded exhibit space, virtual reality and artificial intelligence displays, event space, and a full-service restaurant and terrace overlooking the downtown yacht basin. Unlike the original submission, it does not include a new parking garage.

St. Pete Rising first reported on The Dali’s $38.6 million plan for expansion, which contained 20,000 square feet of permanent exhibition space and a 150,000 square foot parking garage, back in April 2019.

Though the Tourism Development Council (TDC) ultimately approved and allocated $17.5 million in funding for the expansion, issues arose when it became clear the proposed parking garage would interfere with the Firestone Grand Prix which is held annually in downtown St. Pete. City officials also questioned the practicality of constructing a new parking garage immediately adjacent to the existing Mahaffey Theater garage, which is currently available to The Dali for use during the day.

Yesterday, after a year and a half of research, the Managing Director of Development for the City of St. Pete, Chris Ballestra, presented reimagined plans to City Council during a Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting.

An expanded Dali Museum, though, is still a long way away. At next Thursday’s meeting, City Council will discuss and potentially vote on adding a city-wide referendum item to the November 2021 general election that would permit the City to amend the Dali Museum’s lease to allow for the expansion.

Then, if passed, the museum would need to re-approach the TDC for approval of the changes in order to receive the previously allocated funding. If successful, the City would need to revise or create new agreements with The Dali, The Grand Prix, and Big 3 Entertainment, which operates Mahaffey Theater.

“We know how important this area is,” said Vice Chair Gina Driscoll.  “Whatever we put forward as a referendum item needs to be what we think is the best plan.” The Dali Museum estimates 80,000 additional visitors per year as a result of the expansion.

Critics point out that the new expansion plan requires the relocation of an entrance to the existing Mahaffey garage. Although a city-conducted parking study concluded that there is ample parking available to accommodate parking needs, changes need to be approved by all stakeholders. The Albert Whitted Airport and the Federal Aviation Administration would need to sign off on construction too.

“We are blessed to have Mahaffey Theater, the Grand Prix, Dali Museum, Florida Orchestra, and an airport downtown. When something changes with one entity, we need to be able to adapt, but it needs to work out for all entities,” noted Ed Montanari, Councilman for District 3.

All together, it's an ambitious project, but one that could potentially better utilize an important section of the waterfront and yield significant economic benefit in the form of increased tourism and public use long term.

During Thursday’s meeting, Ballestra also unveiled illustrations of a new vision for the entire waterfront Center for the Arts complex, a potential $100 million dollar project that would create a new public plaza in addition to replacing the existing Mahaffey Theater garage with a bigger garage and a better entrance. At this stage though, it’s just that - a vision.

“The reality is right now all these are pretty pictures,” explained Ballestra, referring to the Center for the Arts renderings. “We haven't fully vetted it. It's a wonderful idea, but we're just not there yet.”

For now, it’s up to the City Council - and potentially soon the public - to decide whether to approve the latest plan for revisions to The Dali Museum.

“This discussion is far from over,” emphasized Ballestra at the end of Thursday’s meetings. “In fact, it’s really just beginning.”