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Council Approves $37 Million For Art Museum, Park
Artist rendering provided by the Tampa Museum of Art.
San Francisco architect Stanley Saitowitz designed the new 68,000-square-foot Tampa Museum of Art.
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Published: April 3, 2008
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TAMPA -- Plans to build a new Tampa Museum of Art and Curtis Hixon Park cleared a major hurdle today when the city council approved $37 million in contracts for the two projects.
That means the museum and city can move forward on constructing the two projects. A groundbreaking is scheduled for April 18.
About $29 million will come from public sources, namely the Community Investment Tax. The remaining approximately $8 million comes from private fundraising done by the art museum.
"We're just terribly excited and pleased," interim museum Director Ken Rollins said.
Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com.
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( Doofy ) on April 3, 2008 at 12:01 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
The planned location of the new museum would have been nice.
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Posted by ( bafish ) on April 3, 2008 at 12:03 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
It's at the same location, the old museum is being torn down.
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Posted by ( 91stormvet ) on April 3, 2008 at 12:07 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
What a waste with the other pressing issues in Tampa Bay!
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Posted by ( 3bullies ) on April 3, 2008 at 12:17 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I appreciate art as much or more than the average person. However, I think that we should have maybe approved a portion of the 35 million that was approved for these projects to go toward the police and fire infrastructure. Perhaps then we may have been able to keep some of the fire chiefs, and their knowledge, that were just shown the door due to cut backs. Then you basically slap them in the face with this announcement. It's ridiculous. Where are the priorities at of this city
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Posted by ( DarthRandall ) on April 3, 2008 at 12:23 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
So, who's going to work there - the 100 or so city employees that have to be laid-off because of budget constraints?
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Posted by ( phil ) on April 3, 2008 at 12:45 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
same old game....do as we say, not as we do!!...when are you VOTERS out there going to get it right??? at a time when JOBS and the cost of living is the NUMBER ONE Issue, we WASTE TAXPAYERS money for a new Museum...who benefits from this???...uhm...gee... I wonder who....
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Posted by ( thanksenate ) on April 3, 2008 at 1:07 p.m.
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Posted by ( McX ) on April 3, 2008 at 1:19 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Priorities the PUBLIC PROTECTION should come FIRST; i.e. Fire & Police. This even more so as the budget shrinks. Thhey are not hearing us; remember things like this on election day!
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Posted by ( Tampa610 ) on April 3, 2008 at 1:42 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Almost any other city in this nation would have had this museum built years ago. We are now going on a decade of planning. Thank god city council finally approved this.
Art is just as important to this community as fire and police. It creates a better quality of life. This will be a great addition to what we already have.
$37 million is chump change for something that will last years. People had the same negative attitude toward the Performing Arts Center when it was built...now look at it. It's something that is so beneficial to Tampa. We need to support Arts and Culture.
FYI: The Communuty Investment Tax can't be spent on infrastructure or salaries. It was meant to fund parks, recreation, arts, tourism, etc. This that give us ALL a better quality of life.
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Posted by ( Bonsai ) on April 3, 2008 at 2:11 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
You people cried the blues after Amendment 1 was passed in January and laid off a bunch of city workers but you found millions for a museum and stuff? Get a clue Tampa - you are not the cultural center of the universe.
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Posted by ( McX ) on April 3, 2008 at 2:29 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
We had a culture; then people came down here and destroyed it.
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Posted by ( wtf ) on April 3, 2008 at 3:53 p.m.
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Posted by ( Garbanzo ) on April 3, 2008 at 4:05 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I am so excited about the new museum. Many, many companies chose not to locate or relocate to the Tampa area due to the lack of decent cultural facilities like the new museum will be. It's too bad that the knee-jerk, short-sighted reactionaries can never understand this. Also, we haven't lost a single police officer due to budget constraints. What a bunch of undereducated whiners! They said the same thing about the performing arts center and now it is one of the MOST SUCCESSFUL PERFORMING ARTS CENTER IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY! Build it, they will come and they will pay for it and there will be much, much more left over for us to build even greater things! NEVER PAY ATTENTION TO THE RIGHT-WING NAYSAYERS!!
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Posted by ( bolador ) on April 3, 2008 at 4:29 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I'm no "right-winger" but give me a break. Give us a safe, clean, protected city, and jobs-don't take my taxes for an art museum. Yeah, ooooh, its so wonderful, so...artsy!!!
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Posted by ( NOTAFAN ) on April 3, 2008 at 5:10 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY! WHY!
The Politicians just Don't get IT!!
It is time for a new crop.
Cut my &#%$ Taxes, and tell the Museum to go to....................
Imagine what could be done if that property (and ALL City & County downtown non-park property) was Sold to the highest bidder!
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Posted by ( sanders ) on April 3, 2008 at 5:44 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
It is nice to build these things when economic times are good, but of course that is not the case now. Fire/police/other gov't employees getting layed off, but we can go ahead and afford to build this? People should be our priority first, especially with a recession looming. In addition, this will be a white elephant.
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Posted by ( Gen2Native ) on April 3, 2008 at 6:37 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
They already spent money to have Rafael Vinoly create a museum design that they chose not to use. Yes, museums and the arts are integral to a thriving city, but many of the transplants I have met suggest that a viable mass transit (e.g., trains) would make Tampa more attractive to them. Sadly, this time last year I was fast asleep in Lyon (6 hour difference) after spending the previous 2 days in Paris. After you see the Louvre, it's hard to get excited over a hometown museum. Like they say, "How are you going to keep them down on the farm, once they see gay Paree?" :)
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Posted by ( Devlin ) on April 3, 2008 at 7:10 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
The City of Tampa is cutting back the number of hours it's police helicopter can fly per day due to budget cost but the city has money for this. It will just give the bums a place to sleep at night and use the bathroom during the day.
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Posted by ( McX ) on April 3, 2008 at 8:09 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Exactly, now is not the time to be spending on luxurys and extravagance. We maybe seeing a return of the late 20's. This concept of building this, reminds one of France just before the revolution.
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Posted by ( Bonsai ) on April 3, 2008 at 10:02 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Garbanzo - don't ever call me a right-winger again. That is a dam*#d insult.
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Posted by ( japster ) on April 3, 2008 at 10:57 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
First of all, like someone said earlier, the money used for this comes from the Community Investment Funds where it is slated for community arts and culture...The rest are pitched in by donations...
Second of all, what everyone here that is complaining needs to understand that the TMA and Curtis Hixon Park will be a part of the Tampa Riverwalk, which will be the best thing to happen to Tampa...
All of these venues (TMA, TBPAC, Etc. ETc.) will CREATE A SUBSTANTIAL ECONOMIC IMPACT to the area through tourism, attracting retail, and further condo development...
So dont complain how we dont have money this and that... It is an investment to Tampa's future! Imagine people would actually want to go to Downtown tampa to Visit, not the beaches!
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