New museum / attraction to open at the Landing?

[blizz01]

First, the Pirate Museum in St. Augustine - now this?

City museum looks to open at Landing

A museum celebrating Jacksonville’s history and cultural diversity is expected to open at The Jacksonville Landing in mid-October.
The Jacksonville Museum and Cultural Center will include a kids’ play zone, a virtual fly-over tour of the city and exhibits highlighting the city’s history and ethnic populations, said Sherry Corrie, the museum’s board president. The Jacksonville native said the board has enough money to open the museum but is aiming to have about $400,000 through corporate donations before it opens.
“There some fantastic things that have happened and are happening in our neighborhoods that aren’t getting the deserved exposure,” said Corrie, who has owned several businesses and most recently was the Jacksonville International Boat Show’s promotional director.
She said the board is working to secure a 10,000-square-foot space at the Landing, but there are small sites available if it can’t afford the larger space. Despite other museums, such as the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, facing funding challenges due to the recession, Corrie said she is confident that the museum is sustainable.
“If it weren’t in a challenging economy, we wouldn’t have been able to get the space agreement we’ve got,” she said.
Entrance to the museum will be about $5 and discounts will be available to school and community groups. The museum will by staffed by three employees, volunteers and interns, Corrie said.
The board is in discussion with Jacksonville historic societies to donate exhibitions. It had already received old medical equipment used in the Riverside Hospital and Mayo Clinic Jacksonville.
Corrie’s impetus for the museum came from two sources. A caller on the WJCT’s First Coast Connect suggested a place where the area’s ethnic and cultural diversity could be displayed. The second came when she tried to suggest non-museum attractions to visiting friends from New York.
“I wanted to show the place where I live and all of the current and cool things that are happening and be proud of it,” she wrote in an e-mail. “I couldn’t think of one complete place to do that so I decided we really needed one.”

http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2010/03/22/daily34.html

[St. Auggie]

Clueless.  The leaders of this city are clueless.  You guys hope and pray for rail and this city allows its most distinct entertainment complex to be turned into a museum? Save your breath.  I have never seen a city get in its own way so often.  Amazing.

[reednavy]

I honestly don't see what the big deal is about.

[coredumped]

I don't understand what we're supposed to be upset about. Would we prefer that the space stay empty?

[Keith-N-Jax]

There just opening in a empty space right. Isnt this good news?

[Duke]

Ditto...  I see this as a way to bring people downtown.  I hope they get the space they need as well as the support.  Not understanding where the animosity is coming from...

[blizz01]

Sorry to be a pessimist - In hindsight, perhaps I'll reserve judgment until it opens & I pay a visit (which I will at least once).  While I'm glad that empty space will be filled, I just can't get my head around the direction the Landing is ultimately going - in THIS economy or not.  I really hope that it's not second rate.  Realizing that this would be geared toward both residents & out-of-towners, some of the places that have popped up in there have been questionable.  I suppose that I've just been caught up in wishful thinking & let downs:  Peterbrooke (experience), Cheesecake Factory, Fuddruckers to name a few........I was happy to see Chicago Pizza, however.  What/who is the Landing geared toward, really? Locals, visitors?  Both?  Nail salons & a riverfront gym aren't going to make the place a destination or an entertainment Mecca.   

[Keith-N-Jax]

Ok Blizz01 I see your angle, but say your renting a house are you going to empty your bank account to fix up a house that someone else owns the land. I dont think we are going to see places like the Cheesecake Factory etc until what many see as a problem for the Landing which is parking. Also what is the future of the Landing now?

[Coolyfett]

Clueless.  The leaders of this city are clueless.  You guys hope and pray for rail and this city allows its most distinct entertainment complex to be turned into a museum? Save your breath.  I have never seen a city get in its own way so often.  Amazing.

What do you think would better serve the space?? This place sounds a little boring I still can not tell what it will actually be, but this isn't exactly a Turtle Move. Might be a nice set up, might be lame....I dont like the 3 employee thing though.

[Bativac]

Has anyone ever been to the Boudin Bakery in San Francisco? It has a pretty busy restaurant and bar downstairs, and upstairs is a breadmaking museum. The museum/restaurant combination works pretty well there. I think this would be pretty similar to that, which is the only reason I think it's a good idea... Otherwise it would be like taking an intended nightclub and turning it into a library.

I'm envisioning something with a giant miniature model of the city, and maybe some artifacts from different historic buildings and/or events. Something classy and professional though... not deskjet-printed signs Scotch taped to pedestals. ...which unfortunately is par for the course in Jacksonville...

[longhaul]

I'm in the group that doesn't know what the big deal is.  Nor do I understand how the city is clueless.  A privately funded museum ("corporate donations") is leasing a privately owned retail space (albeit underlying land is leased to the City).  I'm sure Sleiman would've liked to fill the space with something that would draw more visitors to the Landing, but with fallen retail fundamentals, low consumer spending, frozen debt markets, and quiet tenant demand I don't see how Sleiman denies signing this lease.  Besides, good for anyone who is willing to roll the dice by opening a museum celebrating Jacksonville. 

[Wacca Pilatka]

I'm envisioning something with a giant miniature model of the city, and maybe some artifacts from different historic buildings and/or events. Something classy and professional though... not deskjet-printed signs Scotch taped to pedestals. ...which unfortunately is par for the course in Jacksonville...

I wonder if the guy who is doing the Jacksonville 3-D photorealistic project could be tied into this?

[St. Auggie]

Watching the days leading up to the Gator Bowl or the NCAA tournament this past weekend I saw people milling about LOOKING for a good time.  LOOKING for a way to spend money.  I did not speak to any of them I will admit, but they did not look like a museum going crowd.  So many on this board get mad because the city seems to do things at a passable or acceptable level, but never strives for something exceptional.  Some say "would I prefer to have the space empty", and I would say yes.  I would wait for the right type of tenant, or what I believe the Landing should be.  Problem is I dont think the landlord even knows what the landing should be.  Before I lived in Jax I saw the Landing on TV and thought that that place would be awesome.  I spent my first St. Patty's day down there LOOKING for something to do.  Beautiful day, and I had to settle for Hooters.  Its a crime the Landing is not cooler.  A museum is just not what needs to be there IMO.

[blizz01]

Just wondering, isn't this already cared for across the river at MOSH?  I believe that the "Currents of Time" exhibit utilizes about the same amount of space with a like objective.  I wonder how unlike that it could be, really.

[St. Auggie]

Just wondering, isn't this already cared for across the river at MOSH?  I believe that the "Currents of Time" exhibit utilizes about the same amount of space with a like objective.  I wonder how unlike that it could be, really.

I second this thought.