The Sacramento Museum of Science and Curiosity is breaking ground on a new Wonder Works facility, a roughly $850,000 project that the state agreed to help fund further after costs climbed higher than originally planned. The 1,500-square-foot building is designed to give the museum dedicated space for producing, maintaining and storing its exhibits, rather than leaving that work to compete for room inside the main galleries.
According to The Business Journals, the museum plans to break ground on Wonder Works after the state increased its grant specifically to cover those rising costs. The outlet reports the facility will support MOSAC’s educational programming and community outreach efforts.
The museum secured the additional state funding for a new facility supporting exhibits, education and outreach, per the same report. No groundbreaking date, completion timeline or the dollar figures behind the original versus increased grant amounts have been disclosed.
A Riverfront Home In A Century-Old Power Station
MOSAC sits on the banks of the Sacramento River just north of the I Street Bridge in downtown Sacramento, according to Geocon, Inc. The museum occupies a historic power station originally built by Pacific Gas & Electric Company in 1912, a site Geocon notes was repurposed as part of the museum’s development.
The historic building was rehabilitated as part of the museum’s development. Project sources differ on the size of the newer addition built alongside the historic structure: Geocon describes it as a 22,000-square-foot addition, while the Design-Build Institute of America puts the figure at 21,440 square feet. The two accounts also diverge on the building’s green-building credentials, with Geocon stating MOSAC was designed to achieve a USGBC LEED Gold rating, while the Design-Build Institute of America describes the museum as certified LEED Platinum.
Rising Costs Have Hit Other Local Projects Too
MOSAC’s funding bump comes as construction costs have squeezed public projects across the region more broadly. CBS Sacramento reported in the spring that, from bridges to water and power plants, several public works projects in the Sacramento area were being affected by rising costs — a trend that frames, though doesn’t directly explain, the state’s decision to boost MOSAC’s grant.
Once complete, Wonder Works is expected to support MOSAC’s broader educational and community outreach mission.
