MOSH weighs relocating museum from its Southbank site in downtown Jacksonville

[Ken_FSU]

Mind-blowingly impressive to me that JU's capital campaign raised $175 million, years ahead of goal. Not sure if I've ever seen something like this in Jax.

Obviously a different audience, different donor pool, and different grant access, but there's gotta be something that MOSH - which has been parked at $45-$50m in non-city capital contributions for years - can learn from JU's successes.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/may/19/jacksonville-university-completes-175-million-capital-campaign/

[marcuscnelson]

Was a little surprised to learn from Facebook that the demolition of MOSH is now underway.

More from the Times-Union:

https://www.jacksonville.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2026/06/08/demolition-of-jacksonville-museum-of-science-history-begins/90454783007/

[Charles Hunter]

Hmmm ... don't see any dust-mitigation water spray in those photos

[thelakelander]

Fastest demo ever! Demo started several weeks ago.

[Jankelope]

I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop for us to learn why MOSH suddenly changed their plans to stay open while the other museum is being built.

The operational expenses part didn't make sense because MOSH was self sustaining from a revenue/expenses perspective.

My thought is that a developer, possibly Related Group, already knows exactly what they are going to build there. I really hope it is something with a public component. If this is a shady deal for a hotel or something it's not going to look good.

[Des]

I've been told by MOSH staff that the existing building was in dire straits. The roof was collapsing, mold everywhere, etc. The cost to repair everything was like ~$3m+. Leadership was planning on leaving it open and coasting while the new building was being built, but with the sudden risk of the roof potentially collapsing on them or the cost of repairing it, they felt like it didn't make sense to dump a bunch of money into the existing building when they'd have a new one soon. So they fired everyone but themselves, found some of their staff new jobs, and are waiting it out. They offered some staff a position at the new facility if they were willing.

I might be misremembering the details, but I'm pretty sure the sudden cost was because of the roof collapsing. Might've been something else, though.

[thelakelander]

+$3 million in repair isn't necessarily dire straights for a space that size. Especially, when desiring +$100 million for a new building.

[Des]

Yeah, it doesn't really make sense to me either... but, that was their alleged reasoning.

[Fallen Buckeye]

I'm not familiar with the operations of a museum, but the sudden closure and firings seems like it would also affect future talent acquisition. Who wants to go work for an organization that loves its employees so much it fires them all while still paying execs?

[jaxlongtimer]

I recall going on top of the roof to watch July 4th fireworks decades ago.  I think they also used to do star gazing for planetarium fans on the roof.  Based on that, I don't understand how the roof could be allowed to deteriorate to the point of collapsing.  Seems like neglect/incompetence on someone's part. The roof should be #1 in safe keeping any building.  That's 101.

Wonder what happened to the very expensive, state of the art, planetarium set up.  They used to do ticketed music shows using the planetarium's technology.  When I was in my single digits, the forerunner "Children's Museum" in Riverside promoted astronomy way back then. Will the new museum retain or rebuild the planetarium?  Was always a highlight of visiting and appealed to older patrons, not just younger ones.

[thelakelander]

^I serious doubt the roof was in danger of collapsing. That sounds more like typical Jax reasoning for demo talk. Sort of like someone claiming a structure must be razed and isn't salvageble because it has asbestos.

[Ken_FSU]

I've been told by MOSH staff that the existing building was in dire straits. The roof was collapsing, mold everywhere, etc. The cost to repair everything was like ~$3m+. Leadership was planning on leaving it open and coasting while the new building was being built, but with the sudden risk of the roof potentially collapsing on them or the cost of repairing it, they felt like it didn't make sense to dump a bunch of money into the existing building when they'd have a new one soon. So they fired everyone but themselves, found some of their staff new jobs, and are waiting it out. They offered some staff a position at the new facility if they were willing.

I might be misremembering the details, but I'm pretty sure the sudden cost was because of the roof collapsing. Might've been something else, though.

+$3 million in repair isn't necessarily dire straights for a space that size. Especially, when desiring +$100 million for a new building.

For MOSH, which has historically operated at very thin margins - running at an annual loss of around $1 million for most of the decade before COVID and running about $1 million in the black on average since - $3 million could very well be a deal breaker.

That said, assuming the roof did need $3 million in repairs, feels like that's a conversation with the city, and with the public, and with committed donors. Versus quickly closing the museum, firing the staff, parting ways with your CEO, and going dark for a year with zero information distributed to the public about the root cause of the closure.

Roof issues also do not necessitate a unilateral, rush demolition of the structure without ample public input and study of the highest and best use of the existing civic structure.

There's a universe where a closure and demolition could be the most logical move, after exhaustive, transparent discourse. This was not it. Whole thing reeked of classic Jacksonville smoke and mirrors and secrecy.

Still can't fathom why they'd close and have no visible presence at the most critical time of their capital campaign, and still have doubt about how they're going to operate in the black in a bigger, more expensive facility when they've struggled to pull in $3 million annual in revenue over the last 15 years, but hoping we find a way to pull it off. If the city is going to commit an annual endowment to the CIA, I'd rather see those annual dollars go to MOSH, personally.

[Des]

I'm not familiar with the operations of a museum, but the sudden closure and firings seems like it would also affect future talent acquisition. Who wants to go work for an organization that loves its employees so much it fires them all while still paying execs?

I've been told that almost everyone has declined to return to MOSH.

^I serious doubt the roof was in danger of collapsing. That sounds more like typical Jax reasoning for demo talk. Sort of like someone claiming a structure must be razed and isn't salvageble because it has asbestos.

Roof issues also do not necessitate a unilateral, rush demolition of the structure without ample public input and study of the highest and best use of the existing civic structure.

The roof was apparently in danger of collapsing. I believe Universal Engineering performed the inspection. The person who told me this was in leadership, so they were likely privy to most of the details.

I think there is a distinction between whether demolishing the building was the best decision executives could make because the roof was collapsing, and whether it was the decision they wanted to make. People don't always choose an option simply because it is the most reasonable one.

And maybe I'm jaded, but I don't think MOSH cares whether it's the best decision for the community, either. I mean, when they fired everyone, they called everyone into a meeting at 4 pm and were like, "Hey, by the way, everyone's getting laid off, don't come in on Monday! Thanks!" Literally.

[thelakelander]

The roof was apparently in danger of collapsing. I believe Universal Engineering performed the inspection.

Being in the preservation space and hearing stuff like this locally over the years, I'd request the structural engineering report. I've seen a lot worse....heck, Concord Chophouse had no roof, across the country. In this case, I'd chalk it up to any excuse needed to justify moving.

[Charles Hunter]

Q - Will the new MOSH have a planetarium?

A (from MOSH) "We are still designing our exhibit spaces and hope to share updates with everyone soon!"