JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Museum of Science and History, MOSH, is one step closer to moving to its new home in Jacksonville.
The Jacksonville City Council voted Tuesday night to approve a lease agreement to allow MOSH to build on the site now known as the Museum District on the Northbank. It’s sometimes referred to as the old Shipyards property.
MOSH will lease the land for $1 a year during its 40-year agreement.
The city is expected to extend the riverwalk and make other improvements.
MOSH in turn designed a public park near the site and will make an $85 million capital improvement which would be achieved in private fundraising. The land deal is expected to help kick-start that project.
Under the agreement, MOSH would need to privately raise $40 million by Dec. 31.
So far, it’s raised $16 million toward that goal, including a new donation from the Neviaser Foundation for $1 million.
MOSH has operated at its current location on the Southbank since 1969. Since then, it has outgrown its 77,000-square-foot facility.
The new one will have 23,000 square feet of additional space spread out across three floors.
The agreement with the city includes the option to build a future expansion for an additional 30,000 square feet.
The new site is just east of the USS Orleck, which just moved to its permanent home.
The ship has seen 35,000 visitors since it arrived in Jacksonville.
The Jacksonville Fire Museum was also moved to the Shipyards site, and it will all be accessible along the future Riverwalk.
If the funding comes through and everything else goes as planned, the new MOSH is scheduled to open by 2027.