PRACTICAL MATTERS

''It may look very surreal, and it is in an abstract way, but every aspect of the design is nonetheless highly practical and responds to the programs and the needs of museum and the visitors,'' Weymouth says.

Museum officials have raised $26 million of the construction cost from private and public sources, including the sale of the current facility and land to the University of South Florida. The city of St. Petersburg is providing ''a virtually no-cost'' lease on location.

But another $9 million is needed to complete construction, and museum fundraisers and supporters are hoping for a $15 million to $20 million endowment to cover operational costs.

The purpose of the trip to Miami, which included a cocktail party at the Coral Gables house of Spanish Consul Santiago Cabanas, was to stir awareness of the museum and the unique single-artist collection that has turned St. Petersburg into a fine-arts destination, Hine says.

The collection was amassed by Reynolds and Eleanor Morse of Pennsylvania, who had a life-long friendship with Dalí. A St. Petersburg lawyer, Jim Martin, saw a story in The Wall Street Journal about how various art museums had declined to make room for the mammoth collection, and Martin decided to offer to bring the collection to Florida.

His offer worked. Some 200,000 art enthusiasts visit the museum every year.

Hine proposed to Cabanas that the Spanish government fund construction of the new building's grand entrance; in return the museum would recognize Dalí's homeland by naming the area after Spain.

''We really want this community to know this is a museum for all of Florida, and that we are celebrating our historical Spanish heritage,'' Hine says. ``What better way than with a world-class museum to celebrate a world-class Spanish artist?''

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