Thrive
MOSI unveils new name, massive expansion
“The concept of innovation will be at the core of this effort.”
While the emblematic acronym will remain unchanged, the Museum of Science & Industry has a new name and facilities that underscore its evolution.
The North Tampa institution is now the Museum of Science & Innovation (MOSI). Leadership has also opened the new MOSI Digital Content Lab, where local students will create immersive movies for giant dome screens – like the one inside its eight-story Saunders Planetarium.
In addition, MOSI unveiled an expanded Center for STEAM Learning, with 30,000 square feet of new classroom and lab space at a Jan. 27 ceremony. The additions will help cement the 64-year-old museum’s status as a hub for science, technology, engineering and math (STEAM) education.
“We’re not just a place where you come on a field trip or come with your family, look around and play with stuff and then leave,” said CEO John Graydon Smith. “The best work that we do is hands-on, educator-led programming.”
In true MOSI fashion, educators used chemical reactions to transform a sign bearing the former moniker into its “name of the future” at the science-powered ceremony. The institution has expanded and reconfigured its footprint at 4801 Fowler Ave., near the University of South Florida, following its emergence from an economic downturn.
The changes align with the institution’s commitment to preparing Tampa Bay students for next-gen careers. MOSI’s evolution also reflects its proximity to the nascent Uptown Innovation District.
Significant investments have recently transformed the area, and the beloved yet once-stale museum wants to ensure it has a seat on the rocket ship. “Beyond understanding innovation, MOSI is here to help harness it,” Smith said.
“We’re here to inspire the thinkers of tomorrow with learning outside the classroom, and we’re here to be a crucial partner in making sure the jobs of the future will be coming to Tampa Bay.”
The Museum of Science & Innovation’s immersive Saunders Planetarium and Digital Dome Theater, the nation’s second-largest, opened in April 2025.
MOSI began as the Museum of Science and Natural History in 1962. The institution became the Museum of Science and Industry in 1982.
What was formerly the Southeast’s largest science center occupied 74 acres and boasted a once state-of-the-art IMAX theater. Both fell on hard times; over 80% of the exhibits closed in 2017 as a cost-cutting measure.
Smith, known for revitalizing similar facilities, became president and CEO in 2022. He replaced the dormant IMAX theater with the nation’s second-largest immersive digital dome (one in New York is three feet bigger), which opened in April 2025.
Smith said Tuesday that the new moniker captures MOSI’s newfound energy and trajectory in a “rapidly changing world.” He said the institution will help students throughout the region “make sense of what’s happening now and what’s coming next.”
The exponentially larger dome, featuring a 10,000-square-foot, 360-degree curved NanoSeam screen, 8K projection technology, and advanced lighting systems, has increased the planetarium’s capacity from 46 to over 300 people. “So that was one governor we were able to take off from a constraint perspective,” Smith said.
MOSI developed the cutting-edge Digital Content Lab, packed with tools to create enormous 360-degree movies that can be shown in planetariums worldwide, with significant support from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Digital Accelerator for Arts and Culture. A collaboration with USF allows those students to utilize its groundbreaking equipment.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Chris Boles, a MOSI board member, called the institution a “key anchor of an exciting redevelopment project coming to North Tampa, bringing in fresh opportunities for science, sports, entertainment and more.”
“The concept of innovation will be at the core of this effort,” Boles added. “Seeing MOSI take on a new name that matches this mission is a fantastic fit.”
The Center for STEAM Learning reactivates part of MOSI’s now 7.4-acre campus that closed in 2017. Smith said its classrooms would allow the facility to host four schools daily rather than one, “or have an entire grade level come visit us at the same time.”
He noted the center also offers a cooking and three computer labs, and a “makerspace” with 3D printers and other innovative, hands-on tools. The additional space will host new science camps, including one that teaches astrophysics, advanced coding and video game design.
“We’re not getting bigger simply for the sake of getting bigger,” Smith explained. “MOSI is evolving and growing strategically because we’re seeing the demand in our community for a first-class partner in science and innovation.”
He added that attendance has spiked nearly 35% since the Saunders Planetarium opened last year. “The message is clear – MOSI is here to stay.”
