Finding home for map a big problem

Mapmaker Gregory Dietz had hoped to present his huge U.S. map to Treasure Island. But the city doesn't have room for it. Now Dietz is looking for someplace to put it.

By AMY WIMMER

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 18, 2000

TREASURE ISLAND -- After a year's worth of toil, Gregory Dietz is ready to put his masterpiece in the Dumpster.

Problem is, it won't fit there, either.

"It's a little disappointing because it's a lot of work," said Dietz, who makes topographic maps as a hobby and has been working for about a year on a 17-foot by 12-foot map of the United States. He hoped to present it to the city of Treasure Island, but this week the City Commission decided it had neither the space nor a suitable place. "It's so big that a lot of people just don't have room for it."

Dietz was featured in a Times story in March, when he was looking for a large warehouse to assemble his huge, intricately detailed map. He had a few offers, but none worked out, he said.

Now he isn't just looking for a place to store the map; he's looking for someone who wants to have it.

The map depicts everything from the mountainous West to the lush green Midwest. It is the largest topographic map he has ever made, and he has about 60 or 70 in his collection.

Originally, the artist wanted to display the project at the new Treasure Island Beach Center. But that space is too small, city officials say.

City Manager Chuck Coward and Mayor Leon Atkinson visited the mapmaker last week to look at the project.

"I've got a lot of mixed emotions about it, but it is a form of art," said Atkinson of the map. "It's a labor of love for this man."

The only place that the map would fit, Coward said, is on the back wall of the City Hall auditorium. If the city accepted the map, Coward said the city would have to build a frame for it and mount it. And, he said, the map is so heavy that it could damage the wall. The map also might clash with future plans to redecorate the commission chambers.

"I don't believe it would fit in with the future redecorating," said Coward.

That means the city might have to remove the map within a couple of months. In that case, the city has no place to store it and would have to discard it.

"We can't do it justice," said Atkinson. "It's too bad it couldn't be up somewhere where it could be more exposed to the public."

City Commissioner Barbara Blush said she had suggested the mapmaker contact local elementary schools to display the project. Dietz also hopes a school or library will accept his artwork.

"I just think it would be a shame to accept something of that magnitude that we could only display for a short time," Blush said.

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