St. Augustine’s former children’s museum site may be trading science exhibits for stage lights. Developers have filed plans to turn the five-acre parcel into a mixed indoor-outdoor entertainment hub modeled on Jacksonville’s The Block Jax, with restaurants, bars and outdoor gathering areas wrapped around family-friendly amenities and performance space. Supporters say the idea is to give locals more to do after dark while still keeping room for kid-focused attractions on the property. The filing marks the first public move toward a full redevelopment of the site.
Plans Filed For Block-Style Complex
Developers have submitted plans to rework the five-acre site into an entertainment complex patterned on The Block Jax that would combine dining, drinking and outdoor event space, according to the Jacksonville Business Journal. The application pitches the project as a mixed-use entertainment destination rather than a standard retail center or residential build. The Business Journal reports that the property previously housed the children’s museum and notes that the museum once held a ceremonial groundbreaking there that drew donors and community leaders.
What The Block Jax Model Looks Like
Jacksonville’s The Block Jax pairs a large covered pavilion with multiple food vendors, a kids play area, a private dog park and a stage for live music, according to News4Jax. Local coverage describes the venue as centered on a roughly 10,000-square-foot covered pavilion that hosts rotating vendors and an on-site brewery, plus an upstairs mezzanine reserved for adults. That blend of casual food, changing vendors and scheduled performances is the blueprint developers say they want to mirror in St. Augustine.
The Block Jax also leans on repurposed shipping containers for vendor stalls and emphasizes flexible event programming, a feature highlighted by the Jax Daily Record. The operator has stressed family-friendly hours along with a more elevated 21-plus zone to balance daytime crowds with nighttime traffic. That mix will likely influence how any St. Augustine version tackles familiar friction points like parking, noise and permitting.
Site History And Local Context
The parcel now in play for the entertainment complex was used by the children’s museum, which staged a ceremonial groundbreaking that brought out donors, local business figures and families, according to the Jacksonville Business Journal. The new proposal would recast that footprint as a hospitality and entertainment node instead of an institutional campus. City and county reviewers will ultimately decide whether the site can be reshaped under current land-use rules.
What Comes Next
The application now heads into the local review pipeline, where staff reports, public notices and any required hearings will set the pace for decisions and potential conditions. The filing does not yet list specific tenants or a construction timeline, and developers have not floated an opening date for a St. Augustine project. For a closer look at the playbook they are pointing to, see The Block Jax.
If the project secures approval, it would bring a new destination for dining, live entertainment and family outings to a high-profile corner of St. Augustine. We will update this story as additional planning documents appear and public meeting dates are posted.
