MOSH weighs relocating museum from its Southbank site in downtown Jacksonville

[Ken_FSU]

We are so far off the beaten path in setting Downtown straight... and to see us waste time and huge dollars on the U2C when we can't even address basic bus service for Downtown that most any city has, including ones much smaller than Jax.  It is 101 to do.

Proposed new series for the Jaxson:

I'm smaller than Jax and I have a functional downtown bus loop.

[Ken_FSU]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/council-members-worry-parking-plan-for-new-mosh-will-discourage-visits/ar-AA1RyaBu?uxmode=ruby&ocid=edgdhpruby&pc=U531&cvid=692f08d3ba7e460ab0d52ca655b7dc0c&ei=9

The estimated cost of the new museum building is $106 million for the latest conceptual design. On top of that, the expense of creating the exhibits for the museum is in the range of $25 to $35 million. The total cost adds up to roughly $131 million to $141 million, an amount that could change as design continues.

MOSH so far has raised $95 million in taxpayer support and private gifts. MOSH board Chair Jill Davis told City Council members on Dec. 1 the fundraising campaign is working on securing the additional money.

Seems a little troubling that the museum has a funding gap of over $40 million, City Council has already told them not to come back after approving the $50 million they've already given MOSH, and despite closing down and leaving themselves contractually unable to move back into their old building, MOSH has seemingly raised $0 in the last 7 months, after reporting in early May that they were at $95 million in funds raised. Hopefully some additional money comes in from the state and/or some local corporations are willing to buy naming rights to exhibits/wings.

Jokes about buses aside, we do seem to have a bit of a looming parking crisis happening in that area, which is ironic given just how much parking exists. I still don't think there's enough designated parking for the Four Seasons/office development, and I don't think many families are going to be willing to take that trek from the Sports Complex garages more than once, or consider visiting in inclement weather. There are 60 parking spots being added to Metro Park as part of the redesign that would be closer than the garages, but if I'm the city, I might begrudgingly consider contributing $5 million for those 70 spots. We saw with the Landing what happened when we built the thing without the on-site parking.

Engineers of the world, we know the "High Line" idea was half-baked, but is there any universe where those god-awful, redundant ramps could be repurposed for parking and pedestrian use? It's essentially 1,000 feet of four-lane superstructure in the main chunk. Bike and pedestrian walking/exit path on the river side exiting at both MOSH/Shipyards on one side and near Ford on Bay on the other and potentially connecting with that loop of Emerald Trail, one travel lane going south to north, and then angled or parallel parking spots running the length of the travel lane. Could probably squeeze 80-100 cars onto that god awful thing if the width is there. COMPLETELY aware that it's potentially a stupid idea. But hey, so was leaving the ramps up.

[Steve]

Pull the ramps down. There's no way they are legit serving a traffic purpose.

I recognize it's not free (And recognize you'd need to get in Maxwell House's Property for some of it), but for the parts on COJ land get rid of them.

[copperfiend]

It's wild that a city the size of Jacksonville does not currently have a science museum and won't for the foreseeable future.

[jaxlongtimer]

It's wild that a city the size of Jacksonville does not currently have a science museum and won't for the foreseeable future.

Another part of Curry's failed legacy... tore down the Landing and pushed MOSH to relocate to the Northbank when they already had other plans for their Southbank location... all with no game plan on what was to come next or how to pay for it all.  Add his failed attempt to sell JEA and his kick-the-can-down-the-road pension "reform."  Left lots of messes for others to clean up.... while he bashes the current mayor and tries to burnish his own ego in the process.  Possibly our worst mayor in modern times.

[Ken_FSU]

It's wild that a city the size of Jacksonville does not currently have a science museum and won't for the foreseeable future.

Another part of Curry's failed legacy... tore down the Landing and pushed MOSH to relocate to the Northbank when they already had other plans for their Southbank location... all with no game plan on what was to come next or how to pay for it all.  Add his failed attempt to sell JEA and his kick-the-can-down-the-road pension "reform."  Left lots of messes for others to clean up.... while he bashes the current mayor and tries to burnish his own ego in the process.  Possibly our worst mayor in modern times.

The shell game under Curry was insane. MOSH (and Welcome to Rockville) moved based on a Lot J development that wasn't even approved. Sleiman was forced out and the Landing was demolished, based on the same, plus petty payback for Sleiman's endorsement of Alvin Brown. The Hart Bridge ramps came down, but only in Khan's district, based on a Shipyards plan that never came to fruition as planned. Convention Center RFP was railroaded based on a phantom Jags proposal. The U2C was sold based on Curry's smoke and mirrors. Throw in JEA, the drunk tweets wanting to fist fight council members, and the wishy-washiness on the HRO, and I do believe you may have a case for the worst mayor of the last 50 years.

[Tacachale]

According to the ParkWhiz (!) site, the VyStar Arena Garage at Adams and APR is only open for Events at Sports Complex facilities. Will the City, or its contractor, want to open the garage for the possibility of a few dozen cars a day for MOSH? Will they have non-event pricing, so families can afford to use it? Does (or will) this garage have an attendant, or is it all pay by card?

The answer to this one is yes, that's currently the plan. DIA spoke about that at the city council committee meetings this week. The garages are underused as it is.

[Steve]

According to the ParkWhiz (!) site, the VyStar Arena Garage at Adams and APR is only open for Events at Sports Complex facilities. Will the City, or its contractor, want to open the garage for the possibility of a few dozen cars a day for MOSH? Will they have non-event pricing, so families can afford to use it? Does (or will) this garage have an attendant, or is it all pay by card?

The answer to this one is yes, that's currently the plan. DIA spoke about that at the city council committee meetings this week. The garages are underused as it is.

Makes sense. Has there been any discussion about making the garages free, and just adding 3-4 bucks onto the price of a shrimp/arena ticket? I think this would help the bars and restaurants that are there, and could be a catalyst for someone wanting to develop the ground floor space on the Arena garage. Plus, it would simplify matters like this.

[Jankelope]

Also I am reading the estimate on pricing is closer to $135 million+ now?

This is still the reduced scale one with the less inspiring design? I feel like for that price we should be getting a Sally Dark Ride.

[Ken_FSU]

Well that's not a great sign.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/jan/08/museum-of-science-history-ceo-alistair-dove-resigns/

[copperfiend]

Oof, MOSH is cooked. A city of over 1 million people and no science museum for the foreseeable future.

[jaxlongtimer]

The priority for a CEO of a nonprofit is to be a proficient fundraiser.  Programming and operations in a larger nonprofit like MOSH needs to be handled one level down.  It would appear from the article that this may not have been the setup at MOSH.  Given their need to raise more dollars, I could see how they might need to move on to a CEO that can facilitate raising money, first and foremost. 

At this point, due to time constraints, I would suggest they need to hire a well connected and respected Jax citizen that can jump in and immediately restore their credibility with donors and elected leaders to pull in the remaining dollars.

[marcuscnelson]

Lori Boyer's free these days, isn't she?

[Ken_FSU]

The priority for a CEO of a nonprofit is to be a proficient fundraiser.  Programming and operations in a larger nonprofit like MOSH needs to be handled one level down.  It would appear from the article that this may not have been the setup at MOSH.  Given their need to raise more dollars, I could see how they might need to move on to a CEO that can facilitate raising money, first and foremost. 

At this point, due to time constraints, I would suggest they need to hire a well connected and respected Jax citizen that can jump in and immediately restore their credibility with donors and elected leaders to pull in the remaining dollars.

Maybe this is it. Just not the right fit for MOSH's needs at the moment. Hoping it doesn't portend larger issues with the 90% designs coming due. Call me an optimist, but I think MOSH will eventually find a way to pull it off. Was just reading through some of their past financial statements expecting the worse, and they actually seem like a very solid, healthy business. Salaries are lean relative revenues. No crazy outsourcing for fundraising. $10 million+ in liquid assets (non-grants) while carrying almost no debt. Margins over 25%, typically over $1 million a year.  Biggest mystery to me is why close a profitable (at least as of 2 years ago/latest available numbers) museum with a sweatheart lease and lay off all that staff when you're three years away from opening in a best case scenario.

Seems like the state will likely chip in another $7.5 million, which should pretty much cover the cost of the building, leaving the new leadership group with $30 to $40 million to raise to build the actual exhibits. Would be a GREAT opportunity for a guy like Shad Khan to truly leave a legacy behind for Jacksonville. $20 million, and we call it the Khan Museum of Science and History. He can look out at it from his penthouse. It's a lot, but to a guy with $13 billion in assets, it's roughly the equivalent of a donor with $1 million in assets giving $1,500. They're sponsoring Met Park, he's got his Four Seasons and new stadium. Would essentially to be helping to tie a bow on the Shipyards vision he first brought forth nearly a decade ago.

[Jankelope]

I met their CEO at the final day of MOSH operations. He gave a great and inspiring talk about the future of the museum. Maureen is awesome too and I have no doubt will do a great job interim. She also is already in development/fundraising I think.

I will say this feels....weird. Like the rug is about to get pulled out underneath us. I hope I am wrong, but it just feels like so much has gone wrong that wasn't expected.