SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. — This election season, St. Pete voters are deciding if a small section of city-owned property can be used for an expansion of The Dali Museum, but The Mahaffey Theater right next door said they have concerns about those plans.
Dali Museum executive director Hank Hine said because of their success, they need room to grow.
"We’re really cramped. We bring in 15,000 students a year for free tours and they get out of their bus and there’s nowhere to stand. We have to weave them throughout the exhibits," said Hine.
The museum wants to expand its building onto a small section of the city-owned property which is a narrow driveway behind the museum between the building and its parking lot.
"We’ve just asked the city for a small bit of land here, this small little roadway that goes into the garage," said Hine.
But Mahaffey Theater manager Bill Edwards met with St. Pete business leaders on Tuesday to discuss his concerns over the Dali’s expansion plan.
"They want to block off the main artery to the parking garage. One of the two main arteries which will give us a real hardship in trying to get people in and out of the theater and right now we fill the theater two times a night, that’s two shows, that’s 4,000 people," said Edwards.
But Hine said they have plans to address that issue.
"This little roadway which we would like to build on would be replaced by another roadway just a little bit west and there are already curb cuts from the city for such other access to the garage," said Hine.
Hine said because of the theater's concerns, language is written into the referendum that the museum will cover expenses if the theater is impacted.
If voters approve the referendum on the ballot, the Dali Museum said they’re ready to finish plans and start construction soon thereafter.
