The council voted Thursday to approve $37 million of public and private funding for the new Tampa Museum of Art and Curtis Hixon Park.

TAMPA - It wasn't easy.

Art museum leaders had trouble getting financing. They debated with the mayor. They couldn't agree on a site. They had to hire a new architect.

Even Thursday, an issue surfaced at the last minute about a Sunshine Law violation involving a city council member.

But more than a decade after the city first started talking about a new art museum, the council on Thursday took the final vote required for the museum to move forward, voting unanimously to shift about $17 million in Community Investment Tax money to the project.

With that approval, groundbreaking is scheduled for April 18. If all goes as planned, the museum should open in fall 2009.

"It just took a lot longer than we thought it would ever take," said Ray Ifert, chairman of the art museum board. "It's been a long time coming. We're just glad to be here."

Love or hate the art museum project, the approval marks a landmark day for the city.

Those who have shepherded the project through years of ups and downs applauded, back-slapped and hugged.

"What a positive day for our city," Mayor Pam Iorio said. "The museum and the park will one day be a central feature of our waterfront and our downtown."

In a series of three votes Thursday, the council approved $37 million in contracts for two projects: the new art museum and a redesign of Curtis Hixon Park.

Public And Private Funding

About $29 million will come from public sources, namely the half-cent Community Investment Tax approved by voters in 1996. About $17 million of that will go to the museum project. The remaining $12 million will go to the park.

The museum is contributing about $8 million from its private fundraising. The museum on Tuesday secured a construction loan with Wachovia for about $9.4 million. About $1 million of that goes to pay Stanley Saitowitz, the San Francisco-based architect who has designed the new building.

The loan is backed by pledges and guarantees.

The museum will be built at the northern edge of a redesigned Curtis Hixon Park, next door to a proposed new Children's Museum.

Project Took Many Turns

Talks for a new building started at least a decade ago. In 1998, plans for a cultural arts district called for a new art museum. In 2001, a master plan developed by Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill called for a new art museum close to its existing location on Ashley Drive.

New York architect Rafael Vinoly was hired to design the building and paid about $7 million. Despite a major fundraising effort by museum leaders, the $76 million building plan collapsed in 2005 when the museum couldn't get financing.

Then the city and museum debated where to put the new building. Iorio and museum leaders hit a few standstills but in August 2006, both sides agreed on the Curtis Hixon Park location.

The old building was demolished last month. The museum has set up temporary quarters in the Centro Espanol building in West Tampa.

The new 66,000-square-foot museum is considered phase one. The entire project, still years away, calls for a 120,000-square-foot building overlooking the Hillsborough River.

'Bickering' Toward A Resolution

For a while Thursday, the tension was high again. City Attorney David Smith said Councilwoman Mary Mulhern violated the state's Sunshine Laws when she replied to an e-mail sent by Councilman John Dingfelder.

Dingfelder's e-mail questioned a procedural issue regarding the museum.

Council members can send messages to other council members, but replying constitutes a discussion and thus violates the state's open meetings law.

Once Mulhern was told replies weren't allowed, the council debated whether to approve the park and museum as one item or separately. Steve Daignault, administrator of public works and utility services, ultimately persuaded the council to group them together. Skanska, the general contractor, could offer better pricing, he said, if the projects were combined.

"What are we bickering for?" Councilman Joseph Caetano said. His comment met with applause.

"Twenty-two million dollars," Mulhern countered.

Some council members were less enthusiastic about the park project, which is why they wanted separate votes. They questioned whether now is the time to spend $12 million on the project.

"We have seen a little bit of political shenanigans, a little bit of bait and switch," Dingfelder said. "I'm going to support the motion because I've always supported the museum."

After the council cast three unanimous votes, the art board members who filled the chamber applauded.

"This is a long-awaited project," Councilman Tom Scott said.

"Congratulations."

Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com.