St. Pete promises Dali museum $2.5 million

ST. PETERSBURG - The new $36 million Salvador Dali Museum is nearing the final phases of construction without enough money to finish the job. There is a $5 million budget gap.

"Time is running short," according to museum director Hank Hine. "We really need to get assurances, some sort of contract from some source, that we will have those funds so that we can finance the completion of the building."

St. Petersburg's mayor and city council committed $2.5 million at Thursday's city council meeting, but that commitment requires a match.

"This is not intended to get them closer to opening day," Mayor Bill Foster explains. "This is intended to get them to opening day."'

Next week, Pinellas County's Tourism Development Council will consider matching the city's contribution. So far, the TDC has rejected the request, but several new ideas for accessing tourist tax dollars are in play.

"I would say that it's pretty good that something will get done," TDC member Tim Bogot predicted. "There's been some lobbying done by different parties about how to do it and so I suppose that something will get done here."