MANASOTA & PEACE RIVER BBDs Meeting Notebook 10-21-09.docx

L693
Water Exhibits in the Glazer Children's Museum of Tampa
Project Type Cooperative Funding
AOR(s)
Water Supply, Flood Protection, Water Quality, Natural Systems
Basin(s) Alafia River, Hillsborough River, Northwest Hillsborough, Coastal Rivers, Pinellas-Anclote River,
Withlacoochee River, Peace River, Manasota
Cooperator(s)
The Children's Museum of Tampa
Project Manager HULL, MARY MARGARET
Task Manager(s)
Status Ongoing
Description
The Glazer Children's Museum of Tampa is relocating to a new museum site in Riverfront Park in downtown Tampa.
This multi-year project is part of the City of Tampa's efforts to revitalize the downtown business district. This is the third
and final phase of a project to develop and install water exhibits in the museum. In FY2007, the District funded the
planning and development phase for interactive water exhibits. FY2008 funds paid for detailed specifications,
structural engineering, fabrication of support structure, construction of entrances, partial platform construction and
other expenses related to fabrication. In the conceptual phase, District staff and BBEC members were included in
several planning sessions for the design of the interactive water exhibits to ensure they incorporate the District's
message. These exhibits include Water's Journey, which is a three-story climbing structure where visitors "become" a
drop of water and make their way across the watershed, down through the aquifer, up to the city, down a storm drain
and into a swamp. Another exhibit is the Water Bank, which is styled to look like an ATM. Here visitors explore some
of the issues of water supply and demand. Sample depositors of water into the ATM are rain, reservoir, desalination
plants, etc. Withdrawals of water are made by wildlife, wetlands, cities, people, industry, agriculture, etc. Interest is
earned by saving water through a variety of water conservation actions, such as turning the water off when brushing
teeth, using Florida-Friendly LandscapingTM principles, etc. The FY2009 funding is for exhibit construction and
installation.The museum is scheduled to open to the public in May/June 2010.
Benefits
The exhibits are multidisciplinary and designed to engage diverse learning styles. The museum is projected to draw
100,000 people annually. The interactive water exhibits address three elements of the District's AORs -- water supply,
water quality and natural systems -- in simple, easy-to-understand terms. Additionally, this project targets children ages
0-10 years and accompanying adults. This segment of the population was identified in an independent evaluation of
the District's youth education program as one to which the District needed to expand its reach. This project helps
accomplish this goal.
Costs
The total cost of the project (including building construction and all exhibits throughout the museum) is estimated to be
$20 million. The total contribution from the District, including FY2007, FY2008 and FY2009, is $617,442. In FY2007,
the basins shared $112,500 for the planning and development phase for interactive water exhibits. FY2008 funds were
for detailed specifications, structural engineering, fabrication of support structure, construction of entrances, partial
platform construction and other expenses related to fabrication. FY2009 funds are for completion of the exhibit
fabrication, installation and education program development. Phase 3 FY2009 funding request of $252,471 is
allocated as follows:
Alafia River: 12% $29,968;
Hillsborough River: 27% $68,900;
Northwest Hillsborough: 15% $37,340;
Coastal Rivers: 9% $22,249;
Pinellas-Anclote: 14% $35,396;
Withlacoochee River: 5% $12,821;
Peace River: 8% $20,550;
Manasota: 10% $25,247.
The funding splits for this project are based on cooperator-supplied projections of museum attendance. This project
anticipates reaching 100,000 people per year at a cost (for the total project, all phases) to the District of $6.18 per
person. Typical museum exhibits have a 10-year life span. This project, therefore, has the potential to reach 1 million
visitors over a 10-year period at a cost to the District of $0.62 per person. The budget lines below include costs for
staff to manage the project.
020 - Peace River Basin 294