TAMPA, Fla. — A planned indoor sports facility at the Museum of Science and Innovation (MOSI) is moving forward.

Earlier this week, the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners authorized the Tampa Sports Authority to negotiate a contract with Suffolk Construction. The project will see a $70 million indoor field house built at MOSI.

“I’ve said from the get-go that this project has intrinsic benefits to MOSI and MOSI’s audience,” said John Smith, President & CEO of the Museum of Science and Innovation. “Once it’s open, I have every confidence that it’s going to be successful and a bonus to the MOSI operation,” said Smith.

MOSI will be getting a multi purpose indoor sports and event venue. According to county documents, the field house will total 178,000 square-feet, being built where MOSI’s main entrance used to be. By linking the project to existing MOSI infrastructure, the county estimates it’s saving about $15 million.

“It’ll be on the MOSI campus and adjacent to our new planetarium, the Holloway Digital Dome Theatre and Saunders Planetarium, with kind of a shared entrance is the plan as I understand,” Smith said.

The site will be turned into a mixed-use development including restaurants, retail and residential spaces. Those at the museum say the location of the new fieldhouse makes sense.

“I think this is a great location and building on the success that MOSI already had in this location,” said Smith. “We’re already seeing a quarter of a million people in and out of here. Now, there’s a stadium going in across the street at USF. There’s a lot happening in the Uptown region. So this is perhaps the next downtown or Midtown.”

Construction, Smith says, will overlap with a big new exhibit coming to the museum. MOSI is bringing Sue the T-Rex to Tampa – an exhibit from the Field Museum in Chicago – opening in January 2027.

“That is the biggest exhibit that we will have brought in a decade plus,” says Smith. “We’re excited about it, but also apprehensive about what something that big here means at the same time as construction.”

Fueling more thrills at an already exciting venue.

MOSI and the surrounding buildings, as well as the grounds, are owned by Hillsborough County, meaning MOSI is not funding the construction of this new fieldhouse.

The $70 million price tag will be funded with $5 million in countywide funds and $65 million from the renewed community investment tax.

Construction of the field house is expected to start this fall. MOSI staff said construction will take about 18 months to complete with the goal of opening in 2028.