MOSI closes down for 3 months

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Sunday was the last day to experience MOSI before it closes its doors for three months to downsize.

It’s all part of a plan to make the Museum of Science and Industry more financially stable. The museum hopes to eventually move downtown, but for now will rebuild itself in a smaller space.

Over the next three months MOSI will move from a 300,000 square foot behemoth to a slimmed down, and more cost effective, 40,000 square foot museum that will be housed inside the current Kids In Charge wing of the building.4

While some exhibits like the planetarium and ropes course will stay, others like the hurricane room, butterfly garden and IMAX theater, the largest in Florida, will have to go. MOSI says rising energy costs have made it impossible to stay inside their current space.

“With a building this size, when we are burdened with the electricity, energy, maintenance and upkeep, we can’t update our technology. That’s one of the reasons why our IMAX theater has become obsolete,” said Anthony Pelaez, Director of Innovation at MOSI. “We want to be cutting edge. In order to be cutting edge we need to be a nimble science center that’s able to adapt.”

Though MOSI will be closed until November, that won’t mean a complete end to science-based fun. The museum will continue to host educational events, including a solar eclipse viewing party on the 21st  during the transformation. For more information visit: https://www.mosi.org/events-programs-camps/