Bush agrees not to veto money to relocate Dali

ST. PETERSBURG - An enormous banner draped over the front of the Salvador Dali Museum reads: “A new museum takes vision . . . and good friends.” Apparently it takes last-minute deal making, too.

Huddling with Gov. Jeb Bush before a fundraiser Friday, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker worked out a compromise that will assure state money for a plan to relocate the Dali Museum downtown.

Bush agreed to drop plans to veto $4-million lawmakers budgeted for the new museum in exchange for a pledge from Baker that the city would spend $2-million on a new, 7.3-acre waterfront park.

Though the Legislature approved the money, there had been talk in Tallahassee that the source of the money, a reserve for land conservation, was not appropriate for funding a museum move.

Doubt was stirred again Friday when Florida Tax Watch, a nonprofit budget watchdog, urged Bush to veto the project, labeling it one of many “turkeys” inserted into the state’s $63.1-billion budget without adequate review.

But the deal pitched by Baker late Friday seemed to alleviate concern that Bush would use his veto power. A spokesman for the governor, Jacob Dipietre, could not confirm that Saturday afternoon but said Bush was a “big fan” of the Dali Museum.

“Today,” Baker declared during a news conference Saturday, “is another great day in St. Petersburg.” Exuberant applause filled an exhibit room in the current museum on Third Street S.

“We are at Day One right now of an exciting new phase for our museum,” said museum trustee Andrew P. Carty, as he stood beneath a 13-foot-tall oil painting titled The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. Carty is a vice president and secretary of the St. Petersburg Times.

Florida Tax Watch president Dominic Calabro said Saturday that the project still did not warrant state financing. “Moving the museum is a strategic thing and should be funded by private dollars or local city dollars,” he said. “We trust and hope Jeb Bush will follow his principles and do the right thing.”

The museum is seeking $4-million from the state this year and next. An additional $12-million or more would be raised from private sources and by selling the current building to USF St. Petersburg. Carty said the total cost of the museum will run $20-million to $25-million.

Museum officials want to move the Dali to a 50,000-square-foot building on the site of the former Times Arena at Bay front Center. City officials view the museum, which attracts 250,000 visitors annually, as the anchor of a first-class cultural center in downtown.

“I want you all to close your eyes for a minute and try to envision going to the Dali Museum, spending the day there and then walking across the plaza into the renovated Mahaffey Theater to enjoy a performance of the Florida Orchestra,” City Council Chairman Richard Kriseman said. “Isn’t that just a magnificent vision to have?”

The City Council will meet at 8:30 a.m. Monday to officially approve the park project.

The park would be developed on what is now an asphalt parking lot. Baker estimated the land is valued at $16-million and said the park would be the largest expansion of downtown green space in a century.

Asked if the loss of parking would hamper the plans for the waterfront cultural center, he said there is plenty of other space in the area and the city plans to add one or two levels to the parking garage behind the Mahaffey Theater.

“I don’t think we’ll have a problem at all,” Baker said.

The $4-million in state money would come from the Conservation and Recreation Lands trust fund which was designed in part to “conserve urban open spaces suitable for greenways or outdoor recreation,” Baker wrote in a memo to Bush.

Baker said the governor was legitimately concerned about applying the funds to benefit the Dali Museum. But he stressed in his meeting with Bush on Friday that the city’s park plan would meet the same goal.

Before he met with Bush, Baker spoke on the telephone with Secretary of State Glenda Hood, who also had concerns about using the funds.

Baker was lavished with praise Saturday by city and museum officials and local lawmakers on hand. The mayor is running for re-election, and this victory could serve him well. While Baker seemed to relish the moment, captured by a bank of television news cameras, he gave credit to City Council member John Bryan for inspiring the proposal to Bush.

“I told him the governor had concerns about this funding and John said, “Well golly, we’re thinking about building a park across the street, what more does he want?’ From there we decided, this is the beginning of a plan.”

The Dali Museum opened in March 1982, after Reynolds Morse, a wealthy Cleveland businessman, and his wife, Eleanor, agreed to an irrevocable loan of their Dali holdings to the city of St. Petersburg.

Last year, Dali officials announced they wanted to move to the site occupied by Times Arena at Bay front Center, which was subsequently demolished. In addition to granting more space for exhibits and research, the three-story building would better protect the museum from high winds or hurricanes, backers say.

Morse’s widow, Eleanor, 92, attended Saturday’s announcement at the museum. The news of state funding, she said, “is wonderful. It’s absolutely great.”