NORTHEAST REGION
TOTAL PROJECT $11.7 million
FCLF FEDERAL NMTC ALLOCATION $10 million
Education and Youth Outreach Facility
Serving 6,000+ annually
209 Temporary and 24 Permanent Jobs

 "The Cade Museum is so proud to be a part of the FCLF and JPMorgan Chase partnership; you have all been fantastic to work with. Thanks to the NMTC Program, we look forward to providing an invaluable and transformative asset to our community." – Jennifer Denault, Chief Operating Officer

The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention is the educational centerpiece and a key development catalyst in Gainesville’s 32-acre Depot Park. The 21,000 square-foot facility and its programs connect low-income youth to academic resources and mentorship, breaking down barriers to science and technology education and creating a pipeline of educational and career opportunities. The museum includes classroom and lab space as well as exhibits on patents, product development, and the neuroscience of creativity.

Depot Park, the location of the new center, is the site of a former railroad yard. The Creativity and Invention Museum is an anchor project in the park, which serves nearby low-income neighborhoods. The museum formerly operated from a small building near downtown Gainesville, and expansion into the new location created or retained 233 jobs and greatly expanded the reach to 6,000 area youth annually through field trips. Additional targeted education programs include more than 2,000 low-income students annually in grades 1-8, and mentor 200 in grades 7-12 with year-round academic enrichment; 90% of these program participants are on full scholarship. The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention works in partnership with the Education Foundation of Alachua County to provide mentors and outreach.

The project is an express part of the Gainesville Depot Park Redevelopment Plan and is built on a Brownfield remediation site. Total cost for the Innovation Learning Center exceeds $11 million. Florida Community Loan Fund provided $10 million in Federal New Markets Tax Credit Allocation. JPMorgan Chase is the investor on the project and provided $6.4 million in State NMTC Allocation. Use of NMTC financing allowed the project to avoid significant delays in construction that would have been caused by additional fundraising. This transaction was finalized in March 2016.

COMMUNITY PROFILE:

• Gainesville, Florida
• Median Income is 53% of Area Median Income (AMI)
• 1.86x National Unemployment Rate
• Brownfield Redevelopment

To download this information on Cade Museum of Creativity and Invention as a pdf document, click here.
For more information, visit www.cademuseum.org.
View more photos of Cade Museum here in FCLF's Flickr album.

Pictured above, architectural rendering of the project upon completion.
Pictured below, tour of the new facility site, the exterior of the original facility, a hands-on learning lab, and interior of the new Cade Museum.