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Tampa's museum move falls through

The mayor's hopes for a "City of the Arts" take another hit. She floats yet another possible home for the Tampa Museum of Art.

By JANET ZINK
Published August 16, 2006

TAMPA - The Tampa Museum of Art is on the hunt for a new home again, after the collapse of the latest plan for its future.

Mayor Pam Iorio on Tuesday announced the city is abandoning plans to move the museum into a vacant downtown office building.

City officials said the proposal, put forward in February, died because cost estimates to retrofit the office building to house the museum were $3-million higher than expected, and the appraisal of the building was lower than the owner's asking price.

Even as Iorio announced the end of that plan, she floated another - the fourth proposal in 18 months to move the museum from its home on the Hillsborough River downtown.

In a memo to the City Council, Iorio suggests putting the museum next to the Poe parking garage on the river, west of the site picked for the children's museum, to create a "museum row."

The failure is another setback in Iorio's efforts to turn Tampa into a "City of the Arts," one of her priorities. Museum officials say they need a larger facility to accommodate higher quality exhibits. Iorio wants to move the current museum so she can create a waterfront park.

When Iorio took office, there was already a plan for a $76-million building designed by a renowned architect. It fizzled in March 2005 when museum leaders failed to secure financing for its construction.

Iorio suggested moving the museum to the old Federal Courthouse downtown, but that idea proved unpopular and was shelved in July 2005.

In February, the mayor and museum leaders agreed to move the current museum into a building called the Pavilion, also called the Cubes because of its design, at the corner of Kennedy Boulevard and Ashley Drive.

The city planned to spend $5.7-million to buy the building and $10-million to renovate it. The city also earmarked $1.5-million to restore Kiley Gardens, a nearby park that would become a sculpture garden for the museum.

Museum leaders could then raise money for a museum expansion adjacent to the Pavilion.

But the plan was not to be.

Early renovation estimates came in at $13-million, and appraisers put the value of the Pavilion at only $2.5-million, said city attorney David Smith. Its owners, America's Capital Partners, wanted more.

"They claim it's worth $5.1-million to $5.5-million in the hands of a bank," Smith said. "It's only worth $2.5-million in the hands of a museum."

To work as a museum, the building would require special humidity controls and security to protect the art, he said.

"What are we going to do? We need philanthropy, but they're in the business of trying to get a return on their investment," Smith said.

Allen de Olazarra, chief executive officer of America's Capital Partners, said he's sorry the deal failed, but the numbers didn't work out.

"We have right at the moment three different prospects who have expressed keen interest in the Cube space," he said.

Some people never liked the Pavilion plan. Former Hillsborough Commissioner Jan Platt was the only museum board member to vote against it.

"That should not even have been considered," said Platt, who said she quit the art museum board after six months in frustration over the museum dispute.

Rose Ferlita was the only City Council member to vote against the Pavilion plan, saying it seemed more convenient than appropriate.

"It was just a crazy concept," Ferlita said. "It was an attempt to get things going after so many delays."

The latest proposal also seems pulled out of a hat, she said.

Iorio has suggested spending $17.5-million of the city's community investment tax money on a new building adjacent to a new children's museum. Another $1-million would pay for demolition of the old museum and $1.5-million would go to restoration of Kiley Gardens. Donors could then raise money for a second phase.

Iorio said the latest proposal offers a more "holistic" plan to make that area a focal point of downtown cultural activity. It groups the two museums together, expands green space in the waterfront park and provides easy access from the proposed Riverwalk.

The proposal needs approval of art museum board members, who are scheduled to meet next week. If the museum board accepts the proposal, Iorio expects construction of the 65,000-square-foot facility to be completed by July 2008.

Members contacted Tuesday were enthusiastic about the idea, citing its riverside location, access to parking and room to grow.

"It's an excellent suggestion," said board president Cornelia Corbett.

Some board members expressed concern about the allocation of the money to Kiley Gardens.

"That was certainly part of the plan for utilizing the Cubes," said Hal Flowers, a member of the museum's building committee. "We were going to use it as a sculpture garden."

Now, he said, it's money that he understood was supposed to go to the museum.

Iorio said when the city originally issued a $27-million bond to build the museum, it was earmarked for a cultural arts district that would include a remake or replacement of Kiley Gardens.

Janet Zink can be reached at jzink@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3401.

[Last modified August 16, 2006, 05:29:04]