The Tampa Bay History Center is to be built on Garrison Channel. Construction begins this month, and the facility plans to open next year.

TAMPA - Imagine Spanish conquistadors, Seminole Indians, cattle ranchers and cigar factory workers coming to life in one sparkling museum on the water in downtown Tampa.

That museum, the Tampa Bay History Center, will begin to rise out of the ground this month. It's a project that was envisioned two decades ago and finally came to fruition last week when the Hillsborough County Commission approved a $19.5 million contract to construct the new building.

Taxpayers aren't on the hook for all of the costs associated with the project.

Land for the site was acquired by Tampa with money from a state grant.

The History Center contributed $4.5 million of the $19.5 million toward the building's construction. The museum also is raising a $15 million endowment and $8.3 million for exhibits, with the money coming from private donors, corporations and foundations. Other money being raised will go toward fees and reserves, said C.J. Roberts, the history center's president and chief executive.

It's a guarantee that the museum will not be a continuing burden on county residents.

Supporters of the project call it the quintessential public-private partnership.

"People ask me why this project has taken so long," said George Howell, the center's board chairman. "My response is that it's taken this long to do it right, and it's been done right."

The Guy To Make It Happen

In 1986, a task force was formed with the goal of putting all of the county's historical artifacts under one roof. Leland Hawes, a member of that group and of the current History Center board, said the effort sputtered until they enlisted the help of Thomas Touchton, managing partner of Witt-Touchton Co., an investment firm.

"About 15 years ago, a friend of mine and I said the guy that can really take this on and make it go is Tom Touchton," Hawes said.

Touchton started enlisting support in the community and working on a business plan he knew he would need when he asked the county commission for money. In 1998, Touchton and Howell asked the commission for $17 million of Community Investment Tax money. In return, they promised to develop a solid business plan and to raise an $11 million endowment.

Nine years later, Touchton and the center have raised $22.8 million with an eventual goal of $32 million for the capital campaign.

County commission Chairman Jim Norman, in voting last week to approve the $19.5 million construction contract, credited the History Center board for persuading him that the museum is a worthy project.

"They've rolled up their sleeves to come up with the private funding and have a solid business plan," Norman said.

Howell and Touchton said they were able to get people to open their wallets by telling stories about the area's rich history. People were astounded to learn, for example, that the first European exploration of what is now the interior of the United States started when Panfilo de Narvaez landed at Tampa Bay in 1528. People are largely unaware that the first cattle drives were on the west coast of Florida, not in Texas or Oklahoma.

"Everybody loves our story," Howell said. "Everybody is surprised about the facts that our recorded history goes back 500 years and 80 years before Jamestown," Howell said.

To bring that history alive, the center hired a top-notch exhibit designing firm, Christopher Chadbourne & Associates. The firm has designed exhibits for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, the National Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Va., and the underground visitor's center at Mount Vernon, home of George Washington.

But the History Center went a step further in seeking guidance on the museum's design by meeting with representatives of a cross-section of Bay area communities differentiated by age, race, ethnicity and family history. Center staff members asked questions such as, "What would you want someone from Boston to know about the African-American experience in Tampa? And what do you want your children or grandchildren to know about that experience?"

"It has turned out to be a lot of fun because we've seen firsthand the enthusiasm in our community for this project," Roberts said.

Roberts, who was hired to lead the History Center two years ago, managed development and construction of the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans from 1998 to 2000. He said that project was similar to the History Center in the size of the budget, the staff and the amount of exhibits. The chief difference was the national focus of the D-Day Museum.

"There's an element of excitement when you're able to work much more closely with your immediate community that we didn't have with the D-Day project," Roberts said.

Opening Expected In December 2008

The 60,000-square-foot museum will start with 30,000 artifacts when it opens in December 2008. Howell said the museum recently acquired the largest collection of antique Florida maps in the state, some dating to the 1600s. The largest collection of Seminole Indian artifacts now in private hands will be donated to the History Center by the Charlie Knight family.

The center will focus on the history of Central Florida, with about 17,000 square feet dedicated to permanent exhibits chronicling the area's history. Exhibits will focus on a variety of topics, including Spanish exploration, the cigar industry, the military, sports, festivals, and the cattle and citrus industries.

The third floor will contain about 3,500 square feet for traveling exhibits.

The center also is working with the Hillsborough County School District to set up educational classes.

The new history center is one of several downtown projects expected to take shape in the next 18 months or so. The Tampa Museum of Art is scheduled to open a new building in spring 2009. The art museum, too, has overcome fundraising obstacles in its quest for a new building. Much of the Riverwalk also is expected to be completed by 2009, including a segment by the history center.

The museum will make some history itself: Plans are in place for the center to be the first county-owned building certified as "green" by a program that encourages sustainable building practices.

The center will also be a place where scholars can use original books and historical papers for research.

"It's going to be very hands-on and very interactive," Howell said. "Our goal, and what I think we will achieve, is that people will sense adventure, excitement and enlightenment."

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at msalinero@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-8303. Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at egedalius@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7679.