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Demolition To Create Canvas For New Museum Of Art

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By ELLEN GEDALIUS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 6, 2008

TAMPA - Demolition day has come at the Tampa Museum of Art.

Late last week, workers started demolishing the parking garage at the museum on Ashley Drive in downtown Tampa. Soon, they'll start knocking down the museum itself. The entire demolition project is expected to take about thee months.

The museum long ago outgrew its digs on Ashley Drive, and the building and adjacent garage leaked. Groundbreaking is planned for April on a $33 million building at the northern edge of a redesigned Curtis Hixon Park. A children's museum will be built next door.

Meanwhile, the art museum has set up temporary quarters at the Centro Espanol building at 2306 N. Howard Ave.
Centro Espanol will welcome its first visitors on Feb. 15 for the museum's popular "Art After Dark" program. The first exhibit, Drawing Beyond the Plane, is scheduled for March 7.

A week later, on March 15, the museum will hold an open house. Mayor Pam Iorio is expected to attend the family-oriented event, which will include food traditional to West Tampa and a performance by the West Tampa Elementary School choir.

The museum isn't charging admission, though officials welcome donations. The museum is raising money for the endowment and to operate the 66,000-square-foot building. Officials have secured $15 million in pledges, cash and financing. The city is contributing $17.5 million from the Community Investment Tax.

Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com.

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