Sprinkle list: MOSH money heads to Jacksonville for ‘Genesis Project’

Image via MOSH

The state of Florida will kick in on a high-profile and high-priority project to move the Jacksonville Museum of Science and History (MOSH) from the Southbank to the Northbank, in the city’s continued efforts to create attractions downtown.

Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and House Speaker Paul Renner agreed in supplemental funding list to release $5 million in total for the Museum of Science and History’s ambitious “Genesis Project.”

The money will go along with other local and state funding to build a new museum in 2025 on the former Shipyards property, a 130,000 square foot space that will include an aquifer exhibit, a water-quality bio lab, and a private exhibit space, as DTJax.com notes.

The museum itself offers similar aspirational promises, vowing to link “present-day Jacksonville to a dynamic vision of what is to come.”

“MOSH Genesis, a destination for lifelong learning, will deliver a new museum experience that evokes that sense of excitement for all guests — whether it is their first visit or their fiftieth. We will transform the cultural and physical landscape of Northeast Florida and serve as a catalyst for a thriving sports and entertainment district on the Northbank of Downtown Jacksonville.”

The money from the state will match $50 million in local funding and another $17 million from private sources, meaning that while the state contribution is sizable in one sense, it’s supplementary in the larger view.

“The funds from the state will ensure the project will bring an iconic, innovative museum to the Shipyards of Jacksonville, a hub for culture and entertainment, and ensure there will be uninterrupted progress in planning, engineering, development, and construction. These funds will specifically move the project into the final design and construction,” the funding request notes.

The Southern Group’s Karis Beach Lockhart is the lobbyist of record for this project, which local stakeholders hope will be part of an ambitious makeover for that area of the Northbank.