Now twice the size of the original, the new Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Fla. is housed in a $36 million showstopper of a building. NY1's Valarie D'Elia filed the following report.

In downtown St. Petersburg, Fla., there is something surreal attracting attention on the waterfront. The heady blend of culture and climate on Florida’s west coast is now stirred up, with an extra dollop of the arts.

The new Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg is a $36 million showstopper of a building, and is twice the size of its old digs. It’s a toss-up whether the visiting throngs are coming to see the surrealist’s famed masterworks, the largest collection outside of Spain, or the masterpiece structure in which they are housed.

The new Dali Museum is a visual icon on Tampa Bay, with blue bubbles of glass and steel, a grand “double-helix” staircase in the building’s center and a postcard-perfect view of the downtown marina.

To get the whole picture, the new building contains double the space of the former museum, allowing it to display much more with more elbow room, including temporary exhibitions and its permanent collection of oil paintings, drawings, watercolors, prints and photographs.

Tourism officials are banking on the new building tripling the number of visitors to 600,000 a year and generating far more than the $50 million a year in economic impact it tallied in past years.

As for climate, there is no need to worry about hurricane damage leveling the place, as it is designed to withstand a Category Five storm, with 18-inch thick concrete walls.

Admission is $21 for adults and less for kids, students and seniors. For more information, visit www.salvadordalimuseum.org.

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Now here’s a D’Elia’s Deal you don’t want to miss at the new Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. Get in for $10 on Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m. and enjoy a free film with admission.