The Miami Science Museum reopened today after a one-week asbestos shutdown. The scare was triggered last week when a former museum employee told the Miami New Times that insulating material had come crashing down on him outside the building’s mechanical room. Testing over the weekend turned up asbestos on a wall inside that room, but it was confined to that spot and subsequently removed. The piece of crumbling ceiling that had fallen was found to be asbestos-free, and no traces of the substance were found in the museum’s air. Miami-Dade County environmental regulators have declared the museum not hazardous. [Miami Herald] 

A rendering of the Miami Art Museum

Construction on new buildings for the Miami Art Museum and Miami Science Museum could begin soon, with environmental remediation underway at the building site. The new buildings, known as Museum Park, will take roughly $20 million to develop and will create 1,700 new jobs, experts say. Construction on the art museum building — whose size was not immediately clear — is set to begin in November, with a projected 2013 opening date. The planned 250,000-square-foot science center is set to break ground in late 2011, with an unveiling set for 2014 Jack McCabe, a principal with McCabe Consulting & Research, said that Museum Park could help out the flagging residential real estate market. “If the museums are going to employ a lot of people with decent paying jobs, then it could be a boon to that area’s rental market,” he said. [GlobeSt.]

[more]

The planned Miami Art Museum at Museum Park

The City of Miami has approved a plan to fund the remediation of eight waterfront acres at Museum Park, the future home of new Miami Art Museum and Miami Science Museum facilities. The art museum is eligible for $100 million in proceeds from county bonds, and has raised $45 million in private donations for its new building, which is scheduled for completion by 2013. The science museum is eligible for $165 million in bonds for its planned 250,000-square-foot project, which will have an aquarium, planetarium and interactive exhibits and is slated to open in 2014. The remediation of the land is expected to begin within weeks, according to the city’s Omni Community Redevelopment Agency, which voted to approve the financing. TRD

[more]