Exclusive: Morean Arts Center plans to build new five-story building to expand offerings, relocate Chihuly Collection
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Each year, The Morean Arts Center welcomes more than 90,000 visitors to its downtown St. Pete property. Now, the arts hub looks to the future with expansion plans that would greatly increase its footprint on Central Avenue.
The Morean Arts Center, which contains an amazing contemporary art gallery and offers art classes, is in the early planning stages for a new five-story state-of-the-art building.
The plans call for demolishing the current 27,000-square-foot facility at 719 Central Avenue to make way for the new building, which would contain more gallery space, offices, parking, and an expanded Chihuly Collection.
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A permanent ferry dock at the St. Pete Pier moved closer to reality Friday, as the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority celebrated $850,000 in newly secured federal funding for the future Tampa Bay Ferry terminal.
PSTA leaders joined U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, and representatives from Hubbard’s Marina at the Pier to announce the funding, which will help support a new dock near the St. Petersburg Museum of History.
The permanent facility is planned to include a security gate, ticket booth, and ADA-compliant access. It is expected to accommodate two ferry vessels at once, according to Captain Dylan Hubbard of Hubbard’s Marina.
“This is a key piece in the puzzle,” PSTA CEO Brad Miller said during the event.
The federal funding, secured by Castor through the Fiscal Year 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill, comes as PSTA prepares to relaunch passenger ferry service between downtown St. Pete and Tampa later this year.