Will Tampa’s Riverwalk become the city’s new main street?

TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Museum of Art, which is located on the Riverwalk, is expanding and will become much more than a museum when it is complete. 

The Tampa Museum of Art is adding more than 50,000 square feet for galleries, education, and event space. 

What they're saying:

Executive Director Michael Tomor says there are plans for a new restaurant. He wants the restaurant to serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

"It would be the only amenity of its kind on the Riverwalk," Tomor explained. 

He says the Riverwalk could become Tampa's new "Main Street" and described the expansion to FOX 13's Lloyd Sowers on Tuesday, the same day a check of $53,000 was donated by the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa. 

Dig deeper:

The donation is from Hard Rock's "Change for Change" program in which customers can donate their change for positive change in the community. The donation will go directly to the museum's Art-Based Connection program that uses art to help people who have suffered trauma or have been the victims of abuse. 

The Tampa Museum of Art does receive public funding, but the program that uses art to help trauma victims is funded totally by philanthropists. The museum sends artists into the community and also hosts field trips at the facility at 120 W Gasparilla Plaza, Tampa.  

What's next:

Work will begin soon on the new infrastructure needed for the museum expansion, such as water, sewer, and electrical improvements that must be made for the expansion. 

After 51,000 square feet is added, the space in the museum will total around 120,000 square feet and rise to four stories with views of the Hillsborough River. 

Construction will take two to three years.