MIAMI, FLA. – January 4, 2011 – The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has committed a challenge grant of $10 million to the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science (Miami Science Museum).  The support will foster science education and help strengthen Miami’s rapidly emerging downtown cultural center.

Knight Foundation’s grant must be matched with an additional $20 million in funding, a requirement meant to encourage additional community support.

“Our gift to the science museum, equal in size to an earlier gift to the art museum that will stand by its side, is a recognition of the importance of science education and of the museum’s leadership,” said Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of Knight Foundation. “Knight’s challenge grant is intended to galvanize support and accelerate the exciting community transformation at Museum Park.”

Knight’s support will help engage the community in exploring science, technology and the environment by both supporting the new, high tech facility and ensuring that more South Floridians participate in programming. Over time, funds will allow hundreds of thousands of Greater Miami students to visit at least once during elementary and middle school. More visitors will also get to participate in on-site, science-based research activities.

Knight Foundation’s contribution will be recognized through the naming of the Learning Center, a high-tech meeting space for students and community groups, and a key position within the new museum’s management team, the Director for Education.

“This is wonderful recognition of the excellent education work that the museum has been accomplishing for more than five decades. We can no longer adequately serve the expanding population of South Florida at our present site and this gift for the Learning Center at the new museum serves to emphasize how education is at the heart of all we do,” said Trish and Dan Bell, co-chairs of the Museum’s Board of Trustees.

Knight Foundation’s $10 million dollar commitment to the museum’s new building puts the museum in its final stretch of private fundraising – with  $70 million raised out of its $100 million goal. The remaining funds that complete the estimated $275 million overall project cost are granted by Miami-Dade County’s Building Better Communities Bond Program, overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2004, and other government sources.

Designed by internationally renowned Grimshaw Architects, the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science will bring the most spectacular high-design experience to Miami’s already bustling cultural landscape. The 250,000 square-foot complex is intended to act as a demonstration of ecological and sustainability principles, harnessing energy from water, sun, wind and museum visitor energy to power exhibits and conserve resources.

The museum is structured around a lushly landscaped indoor and outdoor “living core” of terrestrial and aquatic spaces, featuring a 600,000 gallon aquarium facility, a full dome 3-D planetarium, hands-on exhibits, cutting edge technology and two additional wings of exhibition space, classrooms and cafes. With the support of the City of Miami, Miami-Dade County and others in the community, the new Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science is on track to be a stand-out destination, inspiring visitors to learn, share and embrace science and technology. The new museum is slated to break ground on Feb. 24, 2012 and open in early 2015.

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ABOUT THE JOHN S. AND JAMES L. KNIGHT FOUNDATION

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more information, visit www.knightfoundation.org.

ABOUT MIAMI SCIENCE MUSEUM

Miami Science Museum aims to make a difference in people’s lives by inspiring them to appreciate the impact that science and technology can have on every facet of our world. For over 60 years, Miami Science Museum’s award-winning educational programs, family-focused exhibits, historic planetarium, and rehabilitative Wildlife Center and Clinic have enriched locals and tourists alike. In 2015, the legacy continues with the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science, a new world-class, state-of-the-art facility designed by Grimshaw Architects in the heart of downtown Miami. Miami Science Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. For more information about the current Museum or our future home, the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science, visit www.miamisci.org or call (305) 646-4200.

Miami Science Museum is located at 3280 South Miami Avenue, Miami, FL 33129. The Museum is open every day from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Admission is free for MiaSci members and children under 3; students (with valid ID), seniors (62+) and children 3 – 12, $10.95; adults are $14.95. Parking is free.

Miami Science Museum is funded with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners.

Media Contacts:

Marc Fest, Vice President/Communications (interim),  John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, (305) 908-2677, fest@knightfoundation.org

Tony Lima, Vice President/Marketing and Communications, Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science, (305) 646-4209; tlima@miamisci.org

First, surveyors from Miller Legg used Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to identify the locations of buried solid objects on the land and then developed a drawing interpreting the GPR findings. Then, they used the drawing to mark the ground with locations of buried objects, in this case the steel sheet piling and concrete slip wall caps of one of the boat slips of the old Port of Miami.

New Museum Construction Managers Suffolk Construction, then performed the construction work shown in the pictures below. Remnants of the slip wall and concrete caps were located in seven places on the project site during the excavation project. In addition to the steel sheet pilings and the concrete cap of the slip wall were old wood timbers, concrete slabs and foundations of waterfront buildings associated with the old Port.

To view pictures of the excavation process, please click here: Miami Science Museum Site Excavation Photo Binder

]]> http://www.miasci.org/blog/rfp-threshold-inspection-consulting-services/feed 0 http://www.miasci.org/blog/miasci-gets-back-to-its-roots http://www.miasci.org/blog/miasci-gets-back-to-its-roots#comments Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:30:49 +0000 MiaSci http://www.miasci.org/blog/?p=1352 The land the Museum is currently on was once part of the Vizcaya estate. In the early 1900s, before the Museum was constructed, the estate utilized the land to grow fruit and vegetables, including oranges, mangoes, kumquats, beans, cabbage, potatoes, onions and tomatoes. Nearby, chickens, turkeys, ducks, guineas and cows were raised for dairy and poultry needs. The crops, poultry and dairy harvested from the property were used to feed the individuals working and living at the estate. The surplus was sold to the general public. “In essence, it was a miniature model farm,” said Alexander Privee, Archivist at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.

Fast-forward almost 100 years to the present day, and the Museum is making preparations to grow and harvest edible crops on the property again. Two different types of hydroponic systems will be explored at the Museum, one using a series of planters in the Wildlife Center (supported by the Batchelor Foundation), and the other a Vertically Integrated Greenhouse (VIG) in the Sea Lab – VIGs can grow food crops vertically up the side of a building! These exhibits will serve as prototypes for some of the green components envisioned for the new Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science, scheduled to open in Museum Park in 2015.

VIG

Hydroponics is the process of growing plants in water, without the use of soil. There are many advantages to this method, one of the most important being that it uses less water. Each system includes a reservoir of nutrient-rich water, and the same water is cycled through the plants and drains back into the reservoir. Because they use recirculating systems, hydroponic systems also help to reduce the amount of fertilizers running off into rivers and streams. And since no soil is required for these systems, they make it possible to grow food in areas where the soil lacks sufficient nutrients or is just too poor to grow anything on. Soil itself is not essential to plant growth. When the required nutrients are introduced into a plant’s water supply artificially, soil is no longer necessary for the plant to thrive. Additionally, pests and diseases are easier to get rid of and control due to the container’s mobility.

“We live in an age of natural resource constraints, and our food supply chains are becoming stretched,” said Environmental Engineer Dr. Ted Caplow, special advisor to Miami Science Museum and inventor of the VIG. These hydroponic exhibits will give the young visitors of today some of the tools needed to solve the problems of tomorrow. By growing food in our cities, we can improve the health of our ecosystem while boosting our own nutrition at the same time.”

Thanks to their flexible design, hydroponic systems allow people in inner cities to obtain fresh produce, which might not be available otherwise. Since they take up less room than traditional farms, urban farms can produce more food in a much smaller space, which reduces the need to ship fruits and veggies in from all over the world, thereby reducing the amount of fossil fuels used to transport the food. This helps to reduce the carbon footprint of the city.

A Special Thank You to our Hydroponic Exhibits Sponsors:

The Museum’s hydroponics demonstration exhibits were made possible by generous grants from The Clarence and Ann Dillon Dunwalke Trust and the Allen Family Foundation, along with funding from the City of Miami. In addition, several vendors contributed materials.

EzGro Garden (http://www.EzGroGarden.com), a company that produces at home hydroponic gardening kits that are simple to use, provided a tower system that will be used in the planters. This is a great system for use at home for people that don’t have a lot of space. It allows people to grow edible crops vertically without soil, so it’s great for a condo or apartment as long as there’s some sunlight.

General Hydroponics (www.genhydro.com), an innovative company that manufactures hydroponic equipment and supplies, provided materials for the Planter System, including three Rainforest® Systems, two Eurogrower® Systems, and nutrients.

These exhibits will feature innovative, new, and sustainable materials, including Growstones growing media. Growstone (www.growstone.com), a company that collects waste bottles from landfills and recycles them into customizable products ranging from substrates for advanced hydroponic growing systems to green technology building materials, provided growing media for our hydroponic systems.

Installation of the Museum’s hydroponics demonstration exhibits is expected to be completed by the end of November, at which point the Museum will begin growing leafy greens, herbs, strawberries, tomatoes, and even some vegetables. As the plants start to grow, the Museum will be looking for volunteers and partners to help tend the plants and think up exciting and tasty uses for all the food! For more information about these and other exhibits at the Museum, visit: http://MiamiSci.org

Corals are marine organisms that live in colonies in shallow water. They are carnivorous invertebrates that feed on a number of small organisms, including plankton and small fish.

A coral aquaculture system is created to reproduce endangered coral and is often accomplished by marine aquarists through a process called fragmentation, or “fragging.” Special tools are used to cut fragments off of existing corals in aquaria, which are then glued to rocks or plugs and then placed in water. Over time, the fragments will grow and eventually cover the rock or plug they are glued to. Blue lights and circulating water stimulate growth of algae in the tissues of the coral.

“Coral aquaculture is important to maintain, sustain and help conserve endangered coral species,” said Skip Uricchio, MiaSci’s Aquarium Curator. “The coral fragment nursery will serve as a prototype for the Living Core exhibits in the new Museum and aims to educate and encourage visitor interest in the subject of our local environment. We are very pleased that so many local aquarists are contributing to this development.”

Suffolk Construction Company, Inc., the Construction Manager, is seeking competent and qualified Subcontractors for the purpose of providing construction services for the Miami Science Museum. This request for prequalification is being solicited by Suffolk Construction Company, Inc. on behalf of the Miami Science Museum. The selected Subcontractor will ultimately be under Subcontract with Suffolk Construction Company, Inc., who will oversee the entire construction of the Project in the role as Construction Manager. Click here for details: Request for Prequalification and Proposal

The Bid Manual will be released for review to the public, on or after October 3, 2011, and is intended to provide an overview of the project, demonstrate the minimum general requirements, and provide bidding documents and all relevant information and forms necessary for Subcontractors to become Prequalified and to Submit a Proposal for this project. Please refer to the Bid Packages Section of the Bid Manual to determine which Bid Packages are out for Bid at this time. Electronic Files of The Bid Manual and Bidding Documents may be obtained by replying to Suffolk Construction’s Invitation to Bid through our Project Document Manager Website, or by request via e-mail to the attention of Brett Porak at bporak@suffolkconstruction.com. Documents will also be made available McGraw Hill Dodge and Reed Construction Data, although you must confirm your intent to bid by response to the e-mail above. Hard copies of the documents will be made available through Reprographic Solutions at (561) 640-5450.

A qualification questionnaire is available via Suffolk’s PDM website. A request to receive a prequalification questionnaire should be sent in writing to Jessica Otto at jotto@suffolkconstruction.com. All contractors wishing to bid this project must be prequalified prior to submitting a bid.

Bidders are requested to direct all questions to Brett Porak, IN WRITING, at bporak@suffolkconstruction.com Suffolk Construction Company, Inc. Please do not contact the Owner, Architect or Engineer directly. A written response will be sent to all bidders via Addendum. The deadline for all RFIs is October 21, 2011.

Recently, one of the Museum’s yellow stingrays gave birth to two healthy babies in the stingray touch tank!

The yellow stingray is a bottom-dwelling species that inhabits sandy, muddy or seagrass bottoms in shallow waters, often near coral reefs. During the day, yellow stingrays are relatively inactive and spend a lot of time buried under a thin layer of sediment. They feed on small invertebrates, shrimps, clams, worms and bony fishes.

In yellow stingrays, developing embryos are first sustained by yolk and later by histotroph (“uterine milk” rich in protein and lipids). Females bear two litters of up to seven young per year, following a gestation period of 5-6 months.

”These new stingray pups will help grow our animal collection for the new Museum using sustainable and responsible husbandry protocols such as allowing our animals to reproduce naturally,” said Skip Uricchio, MiaSci’s Aquarium Curator. “The stingrays will be raised to maturity in the tanks for the exhibits in the new Museum.”

Over the summer, the Museum opened its new exhibit, the Sea Lab, an indoor/outdoor attraction that gives visitors a taste of some of the exciting aquarium components being planned for the new Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science, scheduled to open in Museum Park in 2014. Sea Lab tells the story of energy and carbon flows through a marine ecosystem, from photosynthesis and primary production in algae and seagrass, to the small creatures and grazers that feed on algae and plants, to the larger fish and top predators of the seagrass food chain, including stingrays.

Did you know? Yellow stingrays give birth twice a year, between June and September, and between November and January, usually in litters of 3 to 4.

Stop by the Museum soon to meet the two newest additions to the Sea Lab family!