Groundbreaking held for new Dali Museum

St. Petersburg, Florida -- St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker called it a "great day" as officials broke ground on the new $35 million Salvador Dali Museum on Friday. The new museum will be twice the size of the existing one and is expected to attract about 300-thousand visitors annually.

The new Dali Museum will be located just south of the Mahaffey Theater and Baker also announced Friday that 5^th Avenue South in downtown St. Petersburg would be renamed Dali Boulevard. Construction on the museum is expected to take about 2 years.

In a press release Baker also called the building design "an unforgettable work of art."

The new museum was designed by architect Yann Weymouth of HOK architectural firm.

On Friday, officials also kicked off their $10 million public capital campaign for the museum.

"We are confident the members of our community will value the impact our museum will have on the economy and cultural scene, and will support us with their gifts" Dali Development Director Marcia Crawley said in a news release.

The current St. Petersburg Dali Museum features the largest collection of the famous artist's work outside of Spain.