The Dalí Museum in downtown St. Petersburg will start building this fall. A $65 million expansion will add 35,000 square feet for immersive exhibitions that blend art with technology. Doors open in September 2028.
Private donations will fund the project. So will corporate sponsorships, grants, and Pinellas County tourist development tax revenue. Workers will construct the addition on the south side between the current building and Dali Boulevard.
The expansion brings a Great Hall on the third floor. During daytime hours, it functions as an exhibition space. At night, it transforms into an event venue. Up to 400 people can gather there. Visitors will access the hall by walking through the existing galleries after climbing the helical staircase.
A Learning Pavilion sits on the first floor beneath the Great Hall. It holds up to 90 K-12 students for programming or converts into a smaller event space for lectures. The addition also features an outdoor terrace with views of the downtown waterfront.
“As you move around the building, there will be moments where the building starts to dissolve and then starts to reveal itself again, giving you moments of foreshadowing, different perspectives,” said Trevor Lamphier of The Beck Group during a Thursday media preview event, according to St. Pete Rising.
The Beck Group built the current facility. Now they’re designing the expansion with Yann Weymouth, who created the existing building. Lamphier explained the design team is using the same materials as the original structure but in different ways.
“This is a hard act to follow — this is a very iconic, amazing building,” Lamphier said. “Figuring out the right tone to set with the expansion is really something we spent a lot of time thinking about. We wanted the expansion to be a complement, not a clone.”
Several existing spaces will be reconfigured once construction finishes. The current gift shop becomes an orientation area with a larger ticket counter and customer service desk. The shop moves to the Raymond James Community Room on the first floor.
A 3D model and video tour of the proposed addition went on display May 2. It’s part of The Architecture of The Dalí exhibit. The facility houses more than 2,400 works by Salvador Dalí, making it the largest collection of the artist’s work outside Spain.
Museum Executive Director Hank Hine said the institution has become a pioneer in immersive technology through additions like the Dalí Dome and AI-powered exhibits. “We are the first museum to create a virtual reality exhibition and the first to use artificial intelligence,” Hine said.