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Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
After 56 years at its Southbank home, MOSH will close by summer's end. Here's what's next.
Jacksonville will go without a MOSH for a few years. The Museum of Science & History, located near Friendship Fountain on the Southbank of the St. Johns River, will close by Sept. 1. Groundbreaking for a new MOSH, across the river near EverBank Stadium, is scheduled for 2026, and construction won't be finished until 2028. 'After decades of serving the community from our current location, MOSH is embarking on a bold new chapter to create a museum that will act as both cultural institution and social destination for Northeast Florida,' said Alistair Dove, the museum's CEO. MOSH, which was formed in 1941 as the Jacksonville Children's Museum and moved from Riverside to the Southbank in 1969, will move to its new facility where Hogans Creek flows into the St. Johns River in 2028. In the meantime, MOSH will hold pop-up events and partner with other organizations for educational programs. The museum will continue to operate through the summer, including its summer camp programs. The total cost for the new facility is expected to top $100 million. The museum has raised more than $95 million for the project from private and public donors. The city committed $50 million toward the project as part of its 2025-29 capital improvement plan, with the funding spread over three years. The city has also agreed to lease the site to the museum for 40 years at a dollar a year. About 30 people work at MOSH. Some will be retained to run education programs and help catalog and store exhibits that will be moved to the new facility. 'Transformational reimagining': MOSH unveils new designs for $85 million-plus facility for downtown Jacksonville The museum announced MOSH Genesis in 2020, a plan to leave its longtime home on the Southbank and build a new facility on the downtown side of the river. CSX donated $10 million in 2024 to become the museum's title sponsor. The James E. and A. Dano Davis Family Charities and Jed and Jill Davis, from the family that built the Winn-Dixie grocery store chain, donated $1.5 million. Other private donations include $5 million from Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan; $2.5 million from VyStar Credit Union; $1.1 million from the Lastinger family, including $1 million from the St. Augustine-based Lastinger Family Foundation and $100,000 from Lindsey Lastinger Riggs and Ryan Riggs; $1 million from the Ponte Vedra Beach-based Neviaser Foundation; $500,000 from PNC Bank and a "significant contribution" from the C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Foundation. Dove said projections call for up to 450,000 visitors per year to the new museum once it's opened. It will be part of a renovated Northbank that will include the USS Orleck warship, a Jacksonville fire museum, parkland and Shad Khan's Shipyards West development, plus more than a billion dollars of improvements to EverBank Stadium. MOSH 2.0 will have almost twice the space as the current facility, in a three-floor, 100,000-square-foot building. Exhibits are to use aspects of the St. Johns River as a navigation guide for visitors, beginning with a two-story water feature representing the 27-foot drop from the St. Johns' headwaters in Indian River County to where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean near Jacksonville. Then guests will follow "pathways that mimic the river's role in connecting the region" interspersed with collections and content "islands" showcasing the area's "nature, innovation and culture," according to MOSH. The Southbank building is owned by the city and leased to the museum. The lease permits MOSH to continue to occupy the building for a year after closing, after which the property will revert to the city for redevelopment. This story was updated to add a video. This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: MOSH, Jacksonville's science museum, will close in September 2025
Business Journals
21-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Mormon church files $7.5M permit for Jacksonville temple
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is taking a significant step forward with its first temple in Jacksonville, as newly filed permits reveal the scope of this multi-phase project. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is preparing to break ground on its first temple in Jacksonville, filing a $7.5 million permit with the city on April 18 for site clearing work at 3325 Loretto Road in the Mandarin area. The permit marks the first major step toward development of the 6.6-acre property, with site plans showing the project will unfold in two phases: The first phase includes construction of a 29,000-square-foot Temple on a 0.58-acre site and associated infrastructure, while the second phase calls for the construction of a 20-lot subdivision. Site plans were approved April 16, with the Church listed as the developer, Halff Associates Inc. as the engineering firm, and St. Augustine-based Parkway C&A, LP as the contractor for the site clearing. The Church acquired the land in 2024 for $7.2 million from IGS Diamond S Inc., Southbelt Park Ltd. and Irving G. Snyder Jr. Both of the companies are associated with Snyder, who is president of Southbelt Gp Corp. The construction activity follows a December press release from the Church announcing the Jacksonville Florida Temple as one of five new temples globally set to begin development. A rendering released with the announcement shows the temple's intended exterior design. President Russell M. Nelson announced the plans for the Jacksonville temple during a global address in October 2022. 'I promise that increased time in the temple will bless your life in ways nothing else can,' he said before naming 18 new temples, including Jacksonville, the December statement said. The temple will become Florida's fifth, joining those in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Tallahassee. According to Church figures, Florida is home to nearly 173,000 Latter-day Saints across more than 270 congregations, with missionary efforts in the state dating back to 1845. Temples differ from churches, which are used for weekly worship services. The temple is considered a holy building and reserved for special ceremonies for practicing Mormons. Sign up here for the Business Journal's free morning and afternoon daily newsletters to receive the latest business news impacting the First Coast, and download our free app to get breaking news alerts on your phone.
Yahoo
26-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Fosters needed after St. Augustine-based animal rescue building burns down, animals killed
A St. Augustine-based animal shelter is mourning the loss of multiple animals following an overnight fire. Over social media, Ayla's Acres No-Kill Animal Rescue said that the fire broke out at its 45-acre Greenville, Fla. sanctuary around midnight Sunday morning. We're told one of their buildings was completely destroyed. The posts say that two dogs and two birds made it out of the Madison County home safely, but multiple animals were killed and the caretaker, Chuck, was severely burned. Read: 'He was a football superstar': Mother of murdered Jacksonville 7-year-old calls for justice Ayla's Acres says the Fire Marshall is investigating and believes the fire began with wiring by the building's heat pumps. Now, the shelter is looking for fosters and temporary homes for several animals. That includes three donkeys, four horses, eight dogs and four cats. Officials with the rescue say they will provide all the supplies needed for fosters. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] To learn about fostering, click here. To donate directly, click here. Donations can also be donated to the Ayla's Acres Thrift Shop located at 411 Anastasia Blvd, St. Augustine, Florida 32080. Read: 43 monkeys returned to research facility after escaping 3 months ago [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
