Demolition underway on MOSH

Government

The defunct Museum of Science & History is coming down.

Demolition work is underway on the museum building at 1025 Museum Circle on the Downtown Southbank. The venue closed in 2025 amid plans to build a new MOSH on the Northbank.

A June 8 visit to the Southbank building, constructed in 1969, showed that walls had been partially demolished, revealing gutted portions of the interior. Windows were removed or broken, and twisted metal beams were on the grounds.

Demolition work on the former Museum of Science & History building on the Downtown Southbank in Jacksonville includes removal of beams and partial razing of exterior walls. The museum is planning a move to the Northbank.

The city issued a permit Feb. 16 for contractor ELEV8 Demolition of Jacksonville to raze the four-story, 83,299-square-foot building at a project cost of $835,000.

ELEV8 intends to demolish the structure and foundation and remove the debris.

The city owns the 7.8 acres where the museum building was developed.

The Downtown Investment Authority board voted in January 2026 to approve a $875,000 budget transfer to demolish the 58-year-old museum. The funding also was to provide for asbestos abatement related to the demolition.

Portions of the concrete exterior of the Museum of Science & History in Downtown Jacksonville have been demolished. The city issued a permit Feb. 16 for contractor ELEV8 Demolition of Jacksonville to raze the four-story, 83,299-square-foot building at a project cost of $835,000.

The site is next to The Related Group’s land where it intends to build its $202.7 million Southbank Residences 25-story tower and adjacent eight-story residential building and garage.

On Jan. 12, DIA CEO Colin Tarbert told the Jacksonville City Council Special Committee on the Future of Downtown that the MOSH building would be returned to city control. He said DIA staff toured the building after MOSH closed and determined it was not salvageable for redevelopment.

In March 2025, Council approved an amended agreement with MOSH, the city and DIA to allow for the new facility’s construction. The museum’s new site is part of 8.68 acres on the bank of Hogans Creek where it meets the St. Johns River, south of VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and VyStar Ballpark.

A rendering of the new MOSH by DLR Group and Jacksonville-based kasper architects + associates.

Under the agreement, MOSH will construct the building and design a surrounding park, with the city providing $880,000 toward the park’s design.

The city will own the building and lease it to the museum over a 40-year term at $1 per year.

The former Museum of Science & History is a city owned property next to The Related Group’s land where it intends to build its $202.7 million Southbank Residences 25-story tower and adjacent eight-story residential building and garage. The MOSH facility is being demolished amid plans for a new museum on the Downtown Northbank.

Among the agreement’s terms, the city will build the park, provide roadway and utility work and construct a length of the Northbank Riverwalk on the property as part of $20 million in improvements already funded in the city’s Capital Improvement Plan.

The city has committed an additional $50 million plus the funding for design.

MOSH said April 28 its capital campaign continues to build momentum, with fundraising nearing $100 million to build the proposed facility.