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Dali Museum Breaks Ground For Bigger Building

News Channel 8 photo by ROD CHALLENGER

Salvador Dali look-alike Dana Rizzuto shouts, “I am reborn ... again,” as he emerges from an egg with St. Pete Mayor Rick Baker, left, and Jim Martin, museum trustee, look on. They are standing on the site of the new Dali Museum.

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By ROD CHALLENGER

News Channel 8

Published: December 12, 2008

Updated: 12/12/2008 04:14 pm

ST. PETERSBURG - A Salvador Dali look-alike burst from a giant egg today as part of an elaborate groundbreaking for the city's new Salvador Dali Museum.

The ceremony was symbolic of one of the surrealist's works – and of the birth of a new era for the museum.

The $35 million project, on the waterfront just south of Mahaffey Theatre, will contain 66,540-square-feet of exhibit and meeting space. The design features a glass sculpture that flows along the south side of the building.

Architect Yann Weymouth said he tried to create an abstract expression of Dali's style.

"You look at the work first, you think you understand what you're seeing," he said. "You understand the perspective – here's the building, or rocks – and then you look more closely and something unexpected is happening."

Museum director Hank Hine said the design is radical but with classical elements, "a little bit like Dali."

"It's a mixture of classical standards and a real spirit of fantasy and adventure," Hine said.

The museum has raised $25 million to pay for the project and is confident contributors will donate the remaining $10 million needed for completion.

The artworks will be displayed on the third floor of the ultramodern building, out of the way of any possible storm surge. The building also has been designed to withstand hurricane-force winds.

The St. Petersburg collection of Dali's works is the largest outside his native Spain.

The new museum will have twice as much space as the current museum, which opened in 1982. It is scheduled for completion in 2011.

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