A groundbreaking ceremony marks the onset of construction for the bayfront science museum in Miami that’s to open in 2015.
By Hannah Sampson
hsampson@MiamiHerald.com
Miami’s new science museum will let visitors dance on a floor that captures their energy, eat food grown in the on-site hydroponic gardens, gaze at stars in a 3-D planetarium and gape at a tank full of sharks overhead.
In short, the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science in downtown Miami’s Museum Park will feature much of what it offers today in its decades-old location near Coconut Grove, but on a much larger scale in a much larger, grander, more interesting building.
Except for the sharks. Those will be brand-new. “People might be frightened of physics, but they’re not frightened of fish,” said Gillian Thomas, the museum’s president and CEO.
She and supporters of the museum designed by the firm of British architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw will celebrate the official groundbreaking at the site, 1075 Biscayne Blvd., Friday morning. Work on the foundation is set to start within a week or so, and construction and installation of exhibits will continue through late 2014. The project is expected to generate 400 construction jobs.
If all goes as planned, the museum will open in 2015, more than a year after the Stiltsville-inspired Miami Art Museum that shares the bayfront campus. An estimated 750,000 people are expected to visit in the first year — a number that far exceeds the 233,000 or so that went to the current location in 2011. “It will be another destination to take people to, especially young people, that will leave a lasting impression,” said Alyce Robertson, director of the Miami Downtown Development Authority.
Visitors will find a five-story building that resembles, on one side, the bow of a sleek cruise ship. The structure is being positioned to catch the prevailing winds off Biscayne Bay with the goal of making outdoor areas comfortable even in the summer. At 250,000 square feet, the museum will be several times larger than its current location, which takes up about 75,000 square feet between the building and grounds.
A 600,000-gallon aquarium hosting thousands of creatures that exist in the Gulf Stream is expected to be the showstopper, although the 3-D planetarium with stacked seating, the energy playground and the aviary will likely earn their own fans.While sustainability — including rainwater collection and photovoltaic cells on the roof — is key to the museum, Thomas said the goal is to appeal to a wide swath of interests.
“One thing doesn’t suit everybody, so we’re offering a very rich mix of learning opportunities,” she said.That’s been the strategy for science museums for some time, said consultant Alan Friedman, former director of the New York Hall of Science.
He said museums tend to find success when they offer a large exhibit that hundreds of people can enjoy at a time — such as the aquarium and planetarium — as well as individual activities.
“Basically all of the science centers in the last 30 years have tried to have both: the large dramatic multi-user experience along with the very individual, find-your-own thing,” he said.
Science museums all over the country and overseas, especially in India, China or Latin America, are expanding or opening anew. That’s likely due to the increasingly important role that science and technology play in our everyday lives, Friedman said.“It’s a dramatic facility and, of course, the location is pretty spectacular too,” he said.
The waterfront property carries a steep price tag, the bulk of it funded by the public. Of the $275 million total for the building, $165 million will be funded by a Miami-Dade County bond issue.
Private fundraising efforts have raised $70 million of the $110 million goal so far, including the $35 million naming gift from entrepreneur Phillip Frost and his wife Patricia and a $10 million matching grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. As much as $25 million is needed for transitional costs beyond construction. Said Dan Bell: “As Trish likes to say, no gift is too large.”
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