Title
Cade Museum Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) (B)
This is a request for City Commission approval for a Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Gainesville and Cade Museum.
Explanation
The Cade Museum Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization working to establish a museum with the mission to inspire creative thinking, future inventors and early entrepreneurs. The museum is named after Dr. James Robert Cade, the University of Florida physician and inventor who led the team that created Gatorade. Before his passing in 2007, Dr. Cade expressed his strong desire to locate the museum at Depot Park at South Main Street and Depot Avenue.
The museum organizers began designing concepts for the museum in 2008. About this same time, the Gainesville CRA began updating the 2002 Depot Park Master Plan. The updating revised the park program and Master Plan to reflect new dynamics in the Power District as well as incorporate the Cade Museum building on the west side of the park near South Main Street. The CRA Board and the City Commission approved the revised Depot Park Master Plan in the spring of 2010.
The museum organizers are planning to construct the museum over two phases; Phase 1 will be a 21,000 square foot building completed by late-2015 and Phase 2 will add 24,000 square feet for a total finished project of 45,000 square feet. The museum will be privately funded through a capital campaign led by the Cade Museum Foundation.
The City has expressed support for the Museum locating at Depot Park. Since that time, there has been substantial coordination with the Cade Museum Foundation to facilitate the project. Recently, discussions ensued to formalize the process, roles and expectations, culminating in the Museum issuing a formal request to the City for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
The City and Museum negotiated an MOU outlining the general understandings leading to further negotiation and execution of a lease agreement for a two-acre parcel in Depot Park adjacent to South Main Street. The City Attorney's office has reviewed and refined the MOU that is recommended for approval.
Fiscal Note
The site under consideration for constructing the museum is part of a larger parcel the City of Gainesville purchased in 2001. It is anticipated that the City and the Cade Museum will negotiate a lease for the use of approximately 2 acres at minimal cost to the Museum. The Cade Museum developed a preliminary construction budget of $9,000,000 for Phase 1. This budget is considerably fluid as the design has yet to commence.
Recommendation
The City Commission: 1) approve the Memorandum of Understanding, and 2) authorize the City Manager to execute the Memorandum of Understanding, subject to the approval of the City Attorney as to form and legality.