In 1965, Jaxon Cade Kennedy’s great-grandfather invented a sports drink in the basement of a UF teaching hospital.
On Friday, 6-year-old Jaxon watched as people clinked beakers of Gatorade and celebrated the legacy of his great-grandfather, James Robert Cade, his invention and the groundbreaking of a second museum in Cade’s memory.
The $10 million, 45,000-square-foot building will be located at 904 S. Main St. in Depot Park, across the street to the current Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention.
The current museum has functioned as a science and innovation laboratory for thousands of young students over the past three years, said Phoebe Cade Miles, Cade’s daughter and the museum’s CEO.
"If we can do this much with a very small staff of four and a tiny, little building, imagine the possibilities when we have this building up and running," she said.
Miles’ father passed away in 2007, and she opened the first museum in 2011 to carry on his legacy of innovation and inspire the next generation of inventors and entrepreneurs, said Leslie Ladendorf, the development director for the Cade Museum Foundation.
About 100 people attended Friday to continue Miles’ vision for the groundbreaking of phase one of the museum’s construction. The project’s first stage will be 21,000 square feet and feature several exhibits, Miles said.
So far, $6.3 million has been raised toward the museum’s construction, most of which came from county funds and private donations. The museum hopes to raise the remaining funds before the planned completion of phase one in 2017, Ladendorf said.
She said there is currently no time frame for phase two.
Mayor Ed Braddy, who was in attendance Friday, said the addition of the museum will help Gainesville compete with other cities in the state.
"If places like Miami can be the commercial capital of Florida, and Orlando can be the entertainment capital, and Tallahassee can be the political capital," he said to the crowd, "let it be known that Gainesville is the innovation capital of the Sunshine State."
At about 10:30 a.m., the dignitaries made their way to a dirt pile in lime-green hard hats to pay homage to the very first flavor of Gatorade.
After the first group, Jim Free and Alejandro de Quesada picked up a pair of shovels. In 1965, the two helped Cade develop Gatorade for UF’s dehydrated football team.
After the ceremony, the crowd walked across South Main Street to the current Cade Museum, which houses furniture from the laboratory Cade and his team used half a century ago, along with a separate lab for students.
UF electrical engineering senior Veronica Pirie, who works at the museum’s student laboratory, said the facility’s lab has snap circuits and 3-D printers. It offers hands-on classes for students during the week.
Pirie, 21, said the idea of working so closely to history is fascinating.
"It’s kind of something to inspire all the kids that come in here," she said.
Luther Lee, an administrator for the Caring and Sharing Learning School, said his students frequently visit the laboratory, but a bigger building would house more opportunities.
"Having a facility like this will enable students to understand that there is a broad horizon out there," Lee said.
Outside, Emily Cade Kennedy watched her son walk around in a lime-green hard hat, the same one used to break ground hours prior.
She said she hoped Jaxon would be proud of his roots and his grandfather’s legacy.
"Hopefully it makes him realize that it’s okay to be a dreamer," she said.
