The Dalí Museum's $65M expansion is about to break ground in St. Pete

If you've driven past the Dalí Museum lately and thought, "I should really go back," — this is your sign. One of St. Pete's most recognizable landmarks is about to get a lot bigger, and the details are genuinely exciting.

The Dalí Museum in downtown St. Petersburg unveiled plans for a $65 million expansion that will add roughly 35,000 square feet to its waterfront campus, with construction expected to begin in fall 2026 and the new space opening in 2028.

If you want a sneak peek before the cranes show up,

a 3D model and video tour of the proposed addition went on display May 2 as part of The Architecture of The Dalí exhibit

— so you can see exactly what's coming.

What's actually being built

Plans call for the addition of 35,000 square feet to the south side of the existing building in an area that is now a parking lot.

That's not just more floor space — the design is meant to feel like a distinctly new experience layered onto a beloved one.

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.

Below that,

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 architects — The Beck Group, who built the original "Enigma" building — aren't trying to just add more of the same.

The exterior design, what the team calls "Reveal," plays with expectation, extending and reinterpreting the existing building using familiar materials in new ways to create moments of discovery.

In other words: very Dalí.

How it's being paid for

This isn't a city budget line item getting shuffled around.

Funding for the expansion will come from a combination of private donations, corporate sponsorships, grants, and a portion of Pinellas County Government tourist development tax revenue — also known as hotel bed taxes.

That last piece is significant: it's money visitors spend here being reinvested directly into a cultural anchor that brings more visitors. A virtuous loop, honestly.

Since opening in St. Petersburg in 1982, the museum has welcomed more than 10 million visitors, and officials estimate the current building has generated more than $1 billion in economic impact for the region through tourism, programming, and visitor spending.

What changes in the meantime

Here's the good news for anyone planning a summer visit:

the museum will remain open during construction, and officials said they have coordinated planning with nearby partners such as the Mahaffey Theater and organizers of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg to ensure continued access to the area.

You won't be fenced out of the waterfront.

The project does shake things up a bit inside.

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, and the shop moves to the Raymond James Community Room on the first floor.

Why this matters beyond the museum walls

The Dalí is already one of the most-visited cultural institutions in Florida. Adding 35,000 square feet of immersive, tech-forward gallery space and a 400-person event hall doesn't just benefit art lovers — it anchors downtown St. Pete's cultural identity for the next decade and beyond. Per WFLA,

the expansion is an estimated $65 million investment, with groundbreaking expected to begin in the fall of 2026 and plans to open the expanded spaces in 2028.

The waterfront corridor around 1 Dali Boulevard — already humming with the Mahaffey, Al Lang Stadium, and Straub Park — is only going to get more foot traffic as this project materializes. If you're a buyer weighing downtown St. Pete or any of the walkable neighborhoods nearby, projects like this are exactly the kind of long-term investment that keeps property demand steady. Cultural infrastructure is neighborhood infrastructure — and St. Pete keeps stacking it up.