Good news! We have received the official green light from Miami-Dade County on continuing to the next phase of New Museum design with the release of the next allotment of General Obligation Funding. In this phase, $9.35 million dollars are being released to complete schematic design of the building and begin detailed design development. This funding release was dependent on negotiations with the City of Miami for the long-term lease on the four-acre site in Museum Park (Bicentennial Park) and site remediation agreements being completed. It’s a definite sign of confidence from the County for our project and we are thankful for their invaluable support.

Interestingly enough, as CEO I often hear, “Why’s it taking so long to get agreements finalized and General Obligation Bond cash released? Wasn’t it voted on in 2004?” In short, the answer is, Yes. The GOB was voted on in 2004 and in reality, creating the legal framework for public-private partnerships is a challenge. The private sector is often working in an accelerated manner and sometimes it’s difficult to follow the Public sector’s processes and extended timelines. However, this is a major project for Miami-Dade County, the biggest public-private project of the GOB. Both the County and City continue to be very supportive. This project could certainly take much longer to complete if we did not have their support.

The important thing to note is that we continue to move ahead smoothly with completing the design of our New Museum building. We’re also keeping to our timeline and plans quite nicely. Our New Museum is shaping up to be an example of a “best practice” in energy management and design. This is all very exciting and I’m confident that this project will have a major impact on the redevelopment of Downtown Miami with its unique combination of science, aquaria, planetarium and history.

We should see a lot more progress in the coming months, so please continue to check back to read updates from my staff, design team and myself. We will all keep you abreast of the exciting milestones ahead.

Gillian

After debuting the Energy Dance Floor last October, the Museum has now added a video to the exhibit which brings to life the message of ‘Kid Energy’ and animates the inner workings of the dance floor’s tiles. The first of its kind in the US, the floor captures energy from people dancing and converts it to electricity, which is used to power up special LED lighting effects embedded in the tiles. The video also features images and clips from around Miami, as well as dancers from Miami’s own Hip Hop Kidz and South Miami Middle School’s Dance Magnet.

The Energy Dance Floor video is being presented at the Museum on an innovative “floating” screen, but you can also check it out on the Museum’s YouTube channel:

There’s also a separate mini-floor with a thermal camera and a large-screen display, where dancers can see the heat that they’re generating while they dance.

The Energy Dance Floor is part of the Miami Science Museum’s ongoing efforts to prototype new ways for delivering content about renewable energy, in support of the Museum’s new 250,000 square foot LEED-certified building now under development and slated to open in 2014.

A lot of people ask me, “So, what exactly does an Energy Officer do?” and it’s a good question. Some of the things I work on you might expect: In an effort to test how we will present energy content at the new museum, we are developing a new exhibit called Energy Tracker set to debut early next year. Energy Tracker will take visitors to different stations throughout the museum that will feature hands-on interactives exploring everything from basic energy principles to renewable energy. To add to the experience, the exhibit will feature an activity that will challenge you the visitor to track down energy as it changes from one type to the next.  I am working to help conceptualize the exhibit, write the content, and research future exhibit pieces we might add to Energy Tracker or even the new museum.
 
Some of the things I do, however, are a bit…different. Since joining the staff I’ve “dug around” in green roofs, played with a giant water wheel, and even danced on television (for a special piece we did for NBC 6). Then yesterday I was bean counting, literally. I spent part of my day counting how many black beans there were in a typical can. Why, you ask? You’ll have to come to the museum in February to find out. That’s when we’ll be debuting four new table- top exhibits including one on food energy.
 
If you have any questions, comments, or ideas about energy and sustainability content at the museum, feel free to write me at: ctrigg@miamisci.org.

Blog more soon!

Chris

Miami Science Museum’s Young Patrons ended their 2009 mixer season with a bang…literally! @MiaSci’s Big Bang was held on Friday, October 23rd at the current Miami Science Museum. The fundraiser celebrated the future move to Museum Park with the official inauguration of the new Energy Dance Floor – an exhibit that gives audiences a taste of what will be offered at the New Museum, made possible through a generous grant by the U.S. Department of Energy and match funding from the City of Miami. Mayor Manny Diaz was the guest of honor and took the “first dance” accompanied by the Museum’s President & CEO, Gillian Thomas; the Museum’s Chair, Trish Bell and the Young Patrons Chair, Daniel Marin. The evening also featured live performances by vocalist, Robert Elias, AfroBeta and Elastic Bond.