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City Council settles on plan for art museum

By Times Staff
Published April 27, 2007

TAMPA - While not literally carved in stone, the Tampa Museum of Art got the next best thing:

A unanimous vote by the City Council Thursday on a lease agreement that finalizes the future site of the art museum and paves the way for December groundbreaking.

While Thursday's act was something of a formality, it symbolized the end of a protracted and, sometimes, contentious search for a site.

In August, Mayor Pam Iorio announced plans to move the museum to Curtis Hixon Park, along the Hillsborough River next to the planned Children's Museum. It was a match, and the lease agreement solidifies it. The agreement gives the Museum of Art space for $10 a year. It allows the construction of a building as large as 150,000 square feet with gift stores and an eating area.

President Bush to visit CentCom on Tuesday

The White House announced that President Bush will visit Tampa on Tuesday for meetings at Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base.

Bush will receive a briefing from CentCom officials and speak to a conference of military leaders. He will fly back to Washington Tuesday afternoon.

Elsewhere

ARTS CENTER ON HOLD: Largo officials say they are still interested in creating a downtown visual arts center that would offer educational classes and studio space to artists. But commissioners agreed this week to hold off on any new plans because of uncertainty over proposals in the Legislature that could limit property tax revenue collected by local governments.

[Last modified April 27, 2007, 00:37:15]