The past and the future always rub shoulders in Pensacola.

 Nowhere is this clearer than in the University of West Florida Historic Trust’s Museum Plaza, a public learning and community space behind the T.T. Wentworth Museum in downtown Pensacola.

 Museum Plaza is a place where Pensacola’s rich, deep history is brought to life to benefit the future.  celebrated the grand opening of Museum Plaza, a new multi-use and educational community space in downtown Pensacola that helps tell the story of Pensacola’s rich history.

 The multipurpose, cultural activity plaza serves as a central connection point between the T.T. Wentworth Jr. Florida State Museum, Pensacola Children’s Museum, Voices of Pensacola multicultural center and the Historic Pensacola Village, while doubling as an outdoor classroom that helps the public better understand the historic landscape.

 “The notion of the plaza was to create an urban green space downtown that better ties the eastern part of the historic properties we manage to the Palafox business district, with better lighting, better walkways and to make it more pleasant to look at,” said Rob Overton, executive director for the UWF Historic Trust. “We determined that it could really be a focal point for downtown if we liven it up and tied the two parts of the city together.”

A focal point of Museum Plaza is Discovery Square, the interactive early learning playground donated by Quint and Rishy Studer.

The play equipment is designed and themed to reflect the industries that helped build Pensacola: timber, fishing, shipping, brick making and transportation. The playground’s design features unique equipment with colorful letters and numbers, encouraging children to explore and learn while playing. It was named “Discovery Square,” an idea submitted by a member of the community through a naming competition held last spring.

“There’s no greater thing than to give back and to help children learn,” said Quint Studer. “We are pleased to be a part of this and to be able to share this community.”

Museum Plaza includes the Commanding Officers' Compound, an outdoor exhibit that displays exposed brick from a historic British fort; the Rose Garden Storytelling Circle; and the Linda Evans Memorial Education Pavilion, which includes a covered stage and seating area. The Argo Athletic Band played at the event, and the Rose Garden Storytelling Circle, which features first-person interpretations of historical figures associated with Pensacola, came to life with a visit from local farmer and militiaman, Isaac Pugh.

It’s a way for Historic Pensacola Village and the Historic Trust to capitalize on cultural tourism and maximize the resources that celebrate our past and hope to shine a light on our future. It’s part of an interpretive master plan that balances resource protection, historical education, visitor and recreational use of the nine acre, 32-property complex.

Funding for Museum Plaza was provided by the UWF Historic Trust, Quint and Rishy Studer, David and Emily Walby, IMPACT 100, Fiesta of Five Flags and the Florida Division of Historical Resources.

For more information about the UWF Historic Trust, visit historicpensacola.org.