Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Dali move deserves state support

A question has arisen over $4-million in the state budget passed by the Legislature that would help the Salvador Dali Museum relocate. As Gov. Jeb Bush decides whether to allow the expenditure or veto it, Sen. Jim Sebesta, who requested the amount, and Secretary of State Glenda Hood disagree over the source of the money. Sebesta, a St. Petersburg Republican, said Hood told him she would recommend a veto. She denies it.

Before the debate gets too far out of hand, both sides should agree on one point: The Dali Museum project deserves the state's support. The move would free up property needed for the University of South Florida St. Petersburg to expand, and increase tourism. With its incomparable collection, the museum draws 250,000 visitors annually from all parts of the world and could add to that number at a new site on the downtown waterfront.

What does Hood, the state's chief cultural officer, think of the Dali plan? "I think it's a wonderful project," she said Thursday. Hood said her office did question the use of land preservation funds for the museum after the Legislature added a paragraph to budget documents justifying the one-time expenditure. Otherwise, Hood said, she has no plans of making a recommendation to Bush one way or the other.

We will leave it to the governor to determine whether the funds were allocated appropriately. However, we strongly support the project.

The Dali move is much more than a change of address. The museum would sell its current building to USF St. Petersburg and build a new one next to the city's Mahaffey Theater, which is undergoing a major renovation. Together, the theater and museum would form a cultural magnet on the downtown waterfront. Meanwhile, the old museum building and parking lot would be a vital addition to the university, whose growing enrollment already strains its limited facilities.

Even with the state money, the museum will need to raise most of the projected $20-million cost itself. This is precisely the kind of synergy envisioned by a recent state study of the importance of cultural programs in economic development, overseen by Hood. In summing up the study, she said: "Public, private and government investment in the arts advance our state's immediate and long-term economic goals."

Given all of those considerations, it is difficult to imagine why Bush or Hood wouldn't support the expenditure.

[Last modified May 20, 2005, 01:06:18]