City of Ft. Walton Beach Heritage Park and Cultural Center Museum Store (Rendering by JDF Architecture)
September 7, 2023 (Fort Walton Beach, FL) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – The Indian Temple Mound Museum, located at the Heritage Park and Cultural Center in Fort Walton Beach, is set to expand with a new two-story, 4,800 square foot building. Fronting U.S. Highway 98, this addition will provide additional space for a new museum gift shop, administrative offices, storage, and programming areas.
The new building will have a storefront on the ground floor facing Highway 98, while the second story will house office and storage spaces. The addition will give the museum an anchoring presence on Highway 98 and significantly increase its visibility.
The Highland Group has been selected as the general contractor for this project, with JDF Architecture providing the architectural design. The City of Fort Walton Beach held a groundbreaking ceremony on August 24th.
“The Highland Group is honored to play a significant role in the city’s advancement through this special project,” shares Ryan Long, The Highland Group’s Vice President of the Alabama Gulf Coast and Northwest Florida regions. “We are confident that this museum expansion will enrich the cultural experience for visitors as well as become a treasured resource for the local community members for years to come.”
Throughout the anticipated one-year construction project, the Indian Temple Mound Museum will remain fully open and operational. The Heritage Park and Cultural Center, located at 139 Miracle Strip Parkway SE in downtown Fort Walton Beach, currently houses four unique museums: the Indian Temple Mound Museum, Camp Walton Schoolhouse, Garnier Post Office, and Civil War Exhibits.
For more details about the project, please visit The Highland Group’s website at www.thehighlandgroup.com or the City of Fort Walton Beach Florida’s official website at https://www.fwb.org.
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The Highland Group is a real estate development and commercial construction firm that specializes in real estate development, preconstruction services, general contracting, construction management, and design-build delivery. Their mission is to develop leaders committed to higher standards who have an impact on their firm and the communities in which they work and live by developing trusting relationships and building quality projects. The Highland Group has offices located in the Gulf Coast Region (501 South McKenzie Street, Suite 2, Foley, Alabama, 36535), the Tennessee Valley Region (1300 Meridian Street North, Suite 300, Huntsville, Alabama, 35801), and the Florida Panhandle Region (130 Richard Jackson Blvd., Suite 104A, Panama City Beach, Florida, 32407). They have been proudly serving clients throughout the Southeastern United States since 2005. Learn more at www.TheHighlandGroup.com
About The Indian Temple Mound Museum
The Indian Temple Mound Museum opened in 1962 as the first municipally owned and operated museum in the State of Florida. The current museum building opened to the public in 1972 and is located on Highway 98 (139 Miracle Strip Parkway SE )in the heart of historic downtown Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The museum houses interpretive exhibits depicting 12,000 years of Native American occupation. Over 1,000 artifacts of stone, bone, clay and shell are here, as well as one of the finest collections of prehistoric ceramics in the Southeastern United States. Exhibits also include artifacts from the European Explorers, local pirates, and early settlers. Learn more at https://www.fwb.org/parksrec/page/indian-temple-mound-museum.