Those big ol’ dino bones in MOSI’s main hall? Gone.
The IMAX Dome? Gone.
Butterfly garden? High-wire bike ride? Gift shop and cafeteria? Gone. Gone. Gone.
MOSI’s remodeling begins on August 14 and will take about three months. When the Tampa attraction re-opens in November, the previously 300,000-square-foot space will be an intimate 40,000 square feet.
The planetarium will remain. So will the outdoor ropes course.
The Kids in Charge! building with various exhibits and interactive hijinks packed inside, including its infamous bed of nails, will now be MOSI’s primary building.
The more intimate space for kids also means a bonus for parents. Tickets to the “new” MOSI could be as low as $10.
“We are going to take the best of what MOSI has and condense it into a much more jam-packed experience with a lower ticket price,” says Grayson Kamm, MOSI’s communications director.
MOSI was outdated and beat up. Attendance was struggling. It could not compete or survive in its current state. Museum officials believe it now has a chance, especially if plans for a future downtown Tampa location come to fruition.
A new exhibit called Connectus will let guests interact with future technology.
There is another bonus for parents. MOSI was previously a huge experience, with an exhausted Mom and Dad chasing the tykes all over. Not so much anymore.
If you’d like to say goodbye to MOSI, at least the one you remember from the past 22 years, you have until August 13. A good day to visit? Children are only $4 on July 4.
For more information, go to: www.mosi.org.
