Dali museum gets larger, sturdier

The new facility will have more flair and durability.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Salvador Dali never set foot in this Gulf Coast city where the dominant art form is the watercolor beachscape.
But in a strange twist worthy of one of the Spanish surrealist master's paintings, St. Petersburg will soon be home to a new $30 million signature museum to house the world's most comprehensive collection of Dali's work.
St. Petersburg snatched up the private Dali collection in 1982 when more likely locales, such as New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, balked at its owner's strict conditions. Ohio philanthropists A. Reynolds and Eleanor Morse were charmed by the city's eclectic offer of an old boat warehouse to display their collection.
Like a lot of things in Florida these days, a 14-year-old plan to build a more fitting -- and sturdy -- home for the collection was kicked into high gear by the hyperactive hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005.
"Right from the start, it was the safety of the collection that was motivating thinking about this," said Hank Hines, the Dali Museum's director. "The new building has been created to protect the collection. ... It will be engineered to withstand 165 mph winds, which is really the top you can do practically and still have doors."
Groundbreaking is set for early next year. The new building will open in 2010.
The new Dali museum will be more than a bunker, Hines said. And like its namesake, it will be both practical and eccentric. Preliminary designs call for a tree breaking through one exterior wall, a water fountain shooting from another and a skylight protruding from the roof like a glowing loaf of bread.
On the practical side, the new museum will be bigger, tougher and much more tied in with downtown St. Petersburg than the current location.
Preliminary designs call for a 56,000-square-foot building, about 50 percent larger than the current 30,000-square-foot building. Hines said the new space will allow the museum to display more of the 1,400 pieces in its collection and make room for more education programs.
Self-promoting legacy
There will also be room for another Daliesque twist -- a larger gift shop.
Visitors will immediately be surrounded by Dali products -- from a $3,000 transparent chair to a $20 Dali doll -- when they walk in the front door.
The new museum will cost about $30 million. So far, the Dali board has raised $25 million, including $9 million in state and federal grants
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