USF St. Petersburg now owns the newly renamed building, Harbor Hall, that once housed the largest comprehensive collection of Salvador Dali artwork. It is undetermined what academic programs will occupy the space.
Lenay Ruhl
Contributing Writer
USF St. Petersburg now owns the building that was once the home of the largest collection of Salvador Dali’s artwork in the United States. The four waterfront acres currently sit empty next to campus since the new Dali Museum opened Jan.11, but the vacant area in Poynter Park will soon be put to academic use.
According to Student Government President James Scott, this contract has been in place for months and the change of hands occurred last week. The building is now officially called Harbor Hall.
Parts of the USF St. Petersburg campus are owned by the USF system as a whole, while other parts are owned solely by USF St. Petersburg, which is technically a separately accredited university.
“USF St. Petersburg bought that property and building, not the USF system,” Scott said. “The administration is very proud that they saved up and they made that happen on their own as a partnership with the museum.”
According to Norine Noonan, Regional Vice President for Academic Affairs, there are no solid plans as to which program will be using Harbor Hall.
“The decisions about which departments/programs to move to Harbor Hall are collaborative, involving the department/program leadership and faculty, the dean of the college, myself as Chief Academic Officer, the campus space committee, and the chancellor,” Noonan said. “Facilities planning, facilities operations and campus computing are also heavily involved as these units provide feasibility information about what is possible with new space.”
The building is not ready for academic use, and many improvements need to be made before any program will move in. Improvements include an upgrade to the IT infrastructure, installation of a fire suppression system, HVAC, lighting changes and other possible items.
“We are in the process of assessing the status of the building and doing feasibility assessments,” Noonan said. “It will likely be several months before any academic unit moves into Harbor Hall.”
