This month marks the groundbreaking for the $52 million Tampa Bay History Center on Garrison Channel. The 60,000-square-foot museum, which is scheduled to open in December 2008, will be interactive and hands-on. The building will be certifiably “green.” It will debut with 30,000 artifacts, some pre-dating Jamestown.
A suggestion: One prominent exhibit should be dedicated to how this project was accomplished. From the $19.5 million in community investment public money to the History Center’s hustle, community education, professionalism and business plan – one that already has resulted in nearly $23 million raised.
And not only did the Hillsborough County Commission find the downtown project worthwhile and approve that $19.5-million construction contract, but it did so with praise and without posturing.
Now that’s historic.