Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science facts for kids
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| Established | 1949 (as the Junior Museum of Miami) |
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| Location | Museum Park, Miami, Florida, US |
| Type | Science museum |
| Accreditation | AAM, ASTC |
| Visitors | Estimated 700,000 per year |
| Public transit access | Metromover access at Museum Park Station |
The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science (PPFMOS, formerly known as the Miami Science Museum) is a science museum, planetarium, and aquarium located in Miami, Florida, US. Originally located in Coconut Grove, the museum relocated to Museum Park in the downtown area adjacent to the Perez Art Museum Miami in 2017.
History
The Junior League of Miami opened the Junior Museum of Miami in 1949. It was located inside a house on the corner of Biscayne Boulevard and 26th Street. The exhibits were made up of donated items, such as a hive of live honeybees which hung outside a window, and loaned materials, such as Seminole artifacts from the University of Florida. In 1952, the museum relocated to a larger space in the Miami Women's Club building on North Bayshore Drive. At that time it was renamed Museum of Science and Natural History.
In 1953, the Guild of the Museum of Science was formed, adding volunteers to assist the staff, run the museum store, and conduct tours and outreach programs.
In 1960, Miami-Dade County built a new 48,000 sq ft (4,500 m2) museum building on a 3-acre (12,000 m2) site in an area of Miami called Coconut Grove. In 1966, the Space Transit Planetarium was added with a Spitz Model B Space Transit Projector. The projector was the last (of 12) of its type that was built, and the last one still in operation in 2015. The Planetarium was the home of the national astronomy show Star Gazers with Jack Horkheimer.
In 2011, the museum launched and hosted the annual Miami Underwater Festival, in partnership with the French Festival Mondiale de l’Image Sous-Marines (World Festival of Underwater Images). The festival was founded and sponsored by underwater photographer Marko Dimitrijevic and his wife, Shelly.
The museum and planetarium closed in 2015 in advance of the opening of the new museum. The dismantled Spitz projector is a permanent display piece in the new Frost Planetarium that opened in 2017 (see below).
Closing of Coconut Grove and relocation to downtown Miami
In March 2011, Miami native Phillip Frost and his wife, Patricia, donated $35 million to the construction of a new science museum in Downtown Miami. The museum was designed by the New York studio of global firm Grimshaw Architects; Miami’s Rodriguez & Quiroga Architects Chartered played an executive role.
The new 250,000 sq ft (23,000 m2) Philip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science (PPFMOS) opened on May 8, 2017 in Museum Park in downtown Miami. The new museum includes: the Frost Planetarium, a 250-seat full-dome screen with a diameter of 67 feet (20 m) and a 16-million-color, 8K projection system; a three-story, cone-shaped, 500,000-US-gallon (1,900,000 L) aquarium with a 31-foot (9.4 m) diameter oculus lens at the bottom for viewing the fish,rays and sharks; and the Knight Learning Center with four classrooms.
Images for kids
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The museum's new location viewed from the MacArthur Causeway]]
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Interactive River Of Grass exhibit.
